Winchester Mystery Crash
by Jax118
Summary: First story in the WMC series. Dean and Sam get on a random plane in Los Angeles to exorcise a demon intent on crashing the plane. Once they are successful, they realize the plane has landed them in Sydney, Australia. Annoyed, they book the first flight back...on Oceanic 815.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of Lost or Supernatural.**

Dean could smell the smoke as he opened his eyes slowly, moaning as dull pain shot through his entire body. More of his senses came back to him as the screaming was the first thing he heard. He sat up slowly, dusting off the sand from his arms as his eyes went wide at the sight before him.

He was on a beach. A beach that was littered with the charred wreckage of the plane he had been traveling on. The middle of the plane was as intact as it could be after wrecking, but was missing the cockpit and tail end.

Dean kept his attention focused on the empty spot on the beach where the tail end of the plane should have been attached to the middle. The same tail end that Sam had gone to so he could use the bathroom. "Oh no," he murmured, shooting to his feet. He darted through the people and wreckage in his way, his eyes going over everything in his path as panic began to settle in. "No, no, this can't be happening."

"HEY, GET OVER HERE. GIVE ME A HAND."

Dean barely heard the voice yelling over the still working engine as he looked over his shoulder to see a frantic man in a suit motioning to a man pinned underneath one of the wheels. He ran forward with several other men that had heard the call for help, looking at the jagged piece of metal attached to the wheel to find a spot to grab. He knelt down with everyone else, grabbing an edge and looking at the man in the suit, waiting for his signal.

"ON THE COUNT OF THREE," the man in the suit yelled over the running engine. "ONE…TWO…THREE."

Dean grunted as he used all of his remaining strength to lift the metal away from the ground, annoyed that even with help, this was wearing him out. As they steadied the metal, the man in the suit grabbed the moaning man and pulled him out from underneath, dropping down at his bloody pants and ripping away the offending fabric.

Dean hovered over him watching in case he needed any help. He smirked as the man in the suit removed his tie and looped it around the injured man's leg, creating a makeshift tourniquet. _Please tell me we were lucky enough to crash on this island with a doctor, _Dean thought.

"HELP!" Dean heard a woman shout. He turned towards the water, the site of a very pregnant woman crawling away from some of the wreckage while holding her stomach making him sick. "PLEASE HELP ME."

Dean looked back down at the man in the suit, his face reflecting what Dean was feeling as he looked up at him. "Man, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can handle delivering a baby."

The main the suit nodded as he stood up, motioning to the man they had pulled out from under the wheel. "Alright, get him out of here," he yelled over the roaring engine. He gestured to a bald man standing with them. "Get him away from the engine," he continued to yell as he took off in a sprint towards the pregnant woman.

The bald man crouched down with him, helping him pick up the man on the ground. "I'm John, by the way."

Dean glanced over at him, grunting as he supported the weight of the man they were carrying. "I'm Dean. Are you ready?"

John nodded as they started half carrying half walking him away from the wreckage. The engine noises got louder as they passed right near it before John stopped, glancing back over his shoulder. "HEY! GET AWAY!" He yelled as a man stumbled in front of the engine.

The man cupped his ears, trying to hear John over the engine's roar before getting sucked in. Dean and John were pushed forward as an explosion rocked the beach, sending even more debris everywhere. "SON OF A BITCH!" Dean yelled, his eyes wide as flaming metal rained down around them.

"Hey, are you guys ok?" Dean asked, glad that he didn't have to yell over the engine anymore.

"Yeah, I'm good," John answered him.

"Aside from the obvious, I'm fine," the man told him.

* * *

"_Alright, it's time for plan B," Sam said with a shrug. "We're getting on that plane." _

_Dean's back stiffened at his brother's words. "Wh…whoa…now, just hold on a second," he said, holding his hand out in a placating gesture._

"_Dean, that plane is leaving. With over a hundred passengers on board," his brother re-informed him. "And if we're right, that plane is going to crash." _

"_I know!"_

"_Ok! So we're getting on that plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it," Sam told him, not noticing the panicked look crossing his brother's face. "Look, I'll get the tickets, you just go get whatever you can out of the trunk, whatever will make it through security. Meet me back here in five minutes."_

_Sam turned to walk away, stopping as he realized that his brother was still standing in the exact same place. "Are you ok?"_

_Dean nonchalantly shrugged, scrunching up his face before letting his eyes go wide again. "No, not really."  
_

"_What? What's wrong?" His brother asked, taking a step towards him._

"_Well, I kind of have a problem with, uh...uh," he began, moving his hand away from him in a shooing motion before giving up and letting out a deep sigh._

"_Flying?" Sam surmised in disbelief.  
_

_Dean held out his arms, the fear starting to show on his face. "It's never really been an issue till now!" He hissed._

"_You're joking, right?"_

"_Do I look like I'm joking?" Dean hissed, the panic coming through in his voice. "Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?"  
_

_Sam shook his head in disbelief, trying to wrap his mind around his fearless older brother actually having a fear. "Alright. Uh, I'll go."_

"_What?"  
_

"_I'll do this one on my own," Sam said with a shrug._

"_Are you nuts?" Dean asked, pointing his finger at him. "You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash."_

"_Look, Dean, we can do it together or I can do this one by myself," Sam reasoned with him. "I'm not seeing a third option here!"  
_

"_Come on," Dean whined, slapping his hands against his side. "Really? Man."_

* * *

Dean slumped down onto the warm sand, his throat constricting with several emotions that he was fighting to keep at bay. _Why the hell did I have to pull him out of school, _Dean mused as he tried to even out his labored breathing.

"He's alright, you know," Dean heard from above him. He looked up to see an older black woman, a grim smile on her face as she clutched at a ring hanging on the chain around her neck.

"Excuse me?"

She nodded her head towards the jungle before taking a seat next to him in the sand. She looked out towards the water, sighing as the sun sank further into the horizon. "That young man you were flying with. He's gonna be just fine."

Dean gave her a sidelong glance, trying to keep most of his attention focused on the water. "I appreciate you trying to reassure me and all…"

"If the truth reassures you, then that's great," she answered him, clutching tighter to her necklace before giving him her full attention. "Let me guess, you're the kind of person that needs things shown to him in order for you to believe them, right?"

Dean looked back out at the water, his mind racing with all of the things he had seen in his life as a hunter. All of the demons, the spirits, the monsters and everything else that had been begging for him to kill them before realizing that had his father not involved him in hunting the demon, he would be blissfully ignorant to the evils in the world. "Yeah, I guess you're right on that one."

"Well, seeing as I have no proof to my statement, how about you just take a leap of faith and believe me."

Dean chuckled at the woman as he looked over his shoulder at the two fires that were being fed as the sun sank lower into the water. "What's your name?"

"Rose."

"Dean," he told her, motioning to himself. "Look, I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna head down and see if I can help with those fires. Anything to keep my mind occupied. You gonna be ok by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, honey. Just gonna sit and watch the sunset." She nodded up at him as he stood up, and brushed the sand off of his hands before giving her one last smile and heading back up to the beach.

"If I can just wait it out until the sun comes back up, I'll be able to go out into the jungle and look for the tail end," Dean told himself as he approached a short blonde man and a darker skinned man that were already discussing the fires.

"Charlie, we need help with the fire," the dark skinned man said as he handed a log off to the man named Charlie. "No one will see it if it isn't big."

"Ok, I'm on it," Charlie said, putting the log he had been handed onto the fire. "What's your name?"

"Sayid," the man answered back.

"I'm Dean," Dean interrupted them, pointing to himself as they both turned to look at him. "Sayid and Charlie, right?" He pointed to each of them, smiling as they nodded their head in the affirmative. "I figured you guys could use some help getting these fires bigger."

"That would be greatly appreciated," Sayid told him. "We'll all head out into the jungle. Bring back what you can find."

* * *

"You'd think they would have come by now," Sayid murmured to Dean and Charlie.

"I was thinking the same thing, man," Dean told him. "I can't imagine any major airline not working around the clock to find one of their missing planes."

"Especially when our plane had to be carrying over three hundred people," Sayid agreed with him. "Something about all of this doesn't feel right."

Charlie looked back and forth between the two and shrugged before going back to drawing on the tape wrapped around his fingers. Time passed quietly between the three as Dean thought about his brother, hoping he was alive and well.

He looked back over at the two men he was sitting with, about to open his mouth to end the silence when a loud roaring sound pierced it first. Dean, Sayid and Charlie shot to their feet along with the rest of the survivors.

"That was weird, right?" Charlie asked as all three of them moved forward, their eyes fixed on the jungle as they watched the trees shift and twist in sync with the roaring.

"Did anybody see that?" The pregnant girl yelled out to everyone else.

Dean stopped next to Charlie, his eyes moving through the jungle as he tried to follow the trajectory of the roaring. He felt someone stop at his left and looked over to share a confused look with the man from earlier that had made a tourniquet.

His eyes widened at the moaning accompanying the roaring as he watched more and more trees twist and bend in the jungle. The jungle his brother could be in at that very moment.

"Terrific," Charlie muttered next to him.

* * *

"_Alright, man, I'm gonna head to the bathroom real fast," Sam said, standing up from his seat and stretching out his limbs. "You gonna be ok here?"_

"_Dude, last time I checked, I wasn't a child. I'll be fine," Dean hissed at him, trying to look nonchalant as he continued to clutch at his chair's arms like his life depended on it._

_Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's snappy response before sitting back down and grabbing the bag he stowed under his seat. "Look, I didn't know if you'd need this or not, but I made you something that should help you calm down during the flight."_

"_You know how to make sedatives?" Dean asked, looking over at his brother and watching as he rummaged around in his bag. _

_Sam ignored him as he continued to search his bag, smiling as he found what he'd been looking for. "Ah-ha," he exclaimed as he pulled out a new portable CD player. Dean looked at the object in his hand in confusion before looking back up at his brother. "Ok, I know you prefer tapes to CDs, but I couldn't find any tape players for sale in Sydney…something about obsolete technology."_

"_Hey!" Dean remarked, ready to defend the box of cassette tapes he kept in his car._

"_So, I bought you this instead," Sam continued. "And, I went ahead and burned you a CD."_

"_You burned me a CD? How is a burnt CD supposed to help me?" Dean asked._

_Sam shook his head in disbelief as he attached the headphones to the CD player and handed them to Dean who rolled his eyes as he put them on his ears. He pressed the play button for his brother and watched as some of the tension melted away from his face. "It's Blue Oyster Cult."_

"_Yeah, basically it's a classic rock mix," Sam explained. "And, I made you four more different ones to get you through the flight. I know how it helps you relax."_

_Dean smiled over at his brother, touched at the thought before clearing his throat and composing himself against the almost chick flick moment. "Thanks man, this should help."_

"_Alright, well," Sam began with a triumphant smile. "Now, that that's taken care of I'm gonna head to the bathroom, but I'll be right back." Sam told him, chuckling as his brother barely looked up at him from the brand new CD player. _

_Sam turned and walked down the aisle towards the bathrooms, smiling at a few people that looked up at him before he reached the restroom and opened up the door. "Excuse me," he heard behind him._

_Sam turned around to see an older man, practically dancing in the aisle. "I hate to ask this, but would you mind if I went ahead of you? It seems like my new medication chose now to kick in." _

_Sam looked back towards the empty bathroom in earnest before shaking his head and turning back to the man with a smile. "Sure, go ahead. I'll just wait right here."_

"_Thank you so much," the man told him as he rushed past him and shut the bathroom door. Sam looked around him and mumbled a curse as he noticed that all of the seats around the bathroom were filled._

"_Full flight," a voice said to Sam. He looked down to see a Hispanic woman sitting in the aisle seat near the bathroom, smirking up at him. "You're a better person than me to give up your place in the bathroom line for a complete stranger."_

"_Yeah, well. He made a very convincing argument," Sam countered with a smirk. "I've never been in the position of having medication kick in during a 15 hour flight."_

_The woman groaned around a chuckle, shaking her head in mock annoyance before looking back up at him. "You just had to remind me that we're stuck in this plane for 15 hours, huh?"_

_Sam chuckled back at her as he tapped against his leg distractedly while he looked around at the rest of the cabin, hoping the guy in front of him would hurry up._

_He smiled as his eyes landed on the back of his brother's head, glad to see him bobbing his head to the music. He continued his scan, his eyes stopping across the aisle from where he and his brother were sitting, watching as a young brunette woman spoke with the man sitting next to her._

_He grabbed onto the chair of the woman he had been speaking with, steadying himself as the plane rocked a bit. _

"_You might want to head back to your seat," she told him with a small smile._

"_Nah, it's just a little turbulence. I'll be fine," Sam answered her distractedly as he continued looking at the brunette woman and the man sitting next to her. His eyes widened in embarrassment as the man turned around and caught him staring at them. The man smiled at him and nodded politely before his eyes flashed a bright yellow._

"_Son of a…"_

_The turbulence picked up, overtaking the cabin quickly. Sam braced himself, trying against the turbulence to get back to his chair. Before he could protect himself, he was flung from his feet and slammed into the ceiling above him, a sickening crack being the last thing he heard as he lost all consciousness._

**Author's Note: Ok, so what's up with this site getting rid of the little things you put in to indicate a page break? I was looking over my other WIP story "Supernatural Calling" and it all seems run together. So, I'm gonna be doing some editing and getting it reposted at the same time as I post another chapter. In the meantime, I've gotten real into Lost and the first thing I notice is the YED is the same actor for the Marshall. CROSSOVER IDEA!!! Hehe…hope everyone enjoys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Supernatural or Lost.**

Sam kicked as hard as he could, his lungs burning with the desperate urge to breathe as small bursts of dizziness settled into his head. He could hear the dulled down sounds of chaos at the water's surface and used that as his compass to swim towards. The only coherent thought that was keeping him conscious was how ironic it was that after an entire life of handling salt, it was the exact same element in the water, burning his eyes that almost made him feel sorry for demons.

Just as he began to consider succumbing to the water surrounding him, he felt his hand break through the surface, almost laughing out loud as the rest of him followed. He sucked in air like it was the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted, ignoring the rest of the pain in his body as his lungs held a welcome home party in his chest.

That's when he finally noticed the screaming. All around him. His eyes darted around, wide with panic as he took in the scene before him all the while trying to stay above the waves that were crashing into him.

There was wreckage everywhere, some of the larger pieces supporting a person while they screamed and clung for dear life. Those were the lucky people, he surmised, taking note of the several bodies floating face down around him as a larger wave pulled him back under the water.

"Son of a bitch," he yelled as he resurfaced, hacking up the new water that had invaded his airways. "Land, there's gotta be land," he muttered, turning back and forth in the water, smiling at the beach that was less than a quarter of a mile before him.

He propelled himself forward, avoiding the debris and bodies as he worked against his aching body to make it to the shore. It took longer than it should have, but he almost laughed with joy as his long legs touched down on land, the water still at his chest. He walked the few more steps until he was out of the water his knees hitting the sand before he collapsed forward.

_After spending the last several months with speed racer in the Impala, I actually end up a statistic, _he thought as he rolled onto his back, squinting his eyes as harsh sunlight invaded his vision. He lifted his head slightly, looking back out towards the water as the tail end of the plane sank fully. _Wait, we weren't sitting in the tail end._

"Oh god," he muttered, pushing himself up. His eyes scanned the beach as best as he could with the dizziness that was assaulting his skull. "Dean!" Sam yelled, stepping forward on shaky legs.

He forced himself to ignore the screaming as his breathing became even worse than it had been during his near drowning experience. A panic attack. He was having a freaking panic attack after surviving a plane crash with his brother nowhere in sight. "He has to be here," Sam muttered to himself sinking back down to his knees and placing a hand on his aching chest as he tried to even out his breathing. The screaming continued, intensifying the pain in his head as he fought the urge to just bludgeon himself with the nearest rock.

"_Dad wants us to pick up where he left off,"_ Sam heard his brother's voice in his head. _"Saving people, hunting things…the family business."_

"There's nothing to hunt, damnit," Sam hissed to himself, rubbing at his temples.

"_Then just worry about the saving people part, bitch"_ his inner Dean chastised him. Sam looked back up at the water, watching in awe as a well built black man swam into the currents, shouldered a body and brought it back to the beach…repeatedly. He had been trained to help people his entire life and during a literal crisis, he was forgetting everything.

"Help!" Sam's head shot up as a man ran from the jungle, frantically motioning behind him. "Hey…I need some help. There's someone in the jungle…he's alive."

He jumped back up on his legs, pushing his own pain to the back of his mind as he ran forward, trailing off in a dead sprint behind the man and another woman. The further he got into the jungle, the more he could hear the anguished cries coming from somebody until he stopped right next to the man and woman, his gaze following theirs up into the trees as his eyes widened.

There, in one of the tall trees, was a row of dislodged airline seats, one of them housing the man that he had given up his bathroom spot for on the plane. He sat as rigidly as he could, gripping the armrests as he put forth as much effort as possible not to move against the few stray branches that held the seats up. "Maybe it's a good thing you gave up that bathroom spot," the woman next to him muttered. Sam tore his shocked gaze away from the trees and looked down at her, just now realizing he had followed the woman he had struck up a conversation with on the plane into the jungle.

"We should climb up there," the man next to them said, not looking away from the trees. "I'll hold him steady while you pull him…"

"No, you'll kill him and yourself," Sam interrupted him, knowing it was a miracle that the trees were still supporting the weight of the occupied seats.

"He's right," the woman agreed as she stepped away from them. "What's your name?" She yelled up at him.

"Uh…uh…B-B-Bernard," the man in the trees stuttered out.

"You're gonna be alright, Bernard," the woman yelled up at him, shrugging at the dubious look Sam was throwing her. "I need you to unbuckle your seatbelt and grab the branch next to you," she yelled up at him.

"Is he dead?" Bernard asked, ignoring the instructions she had given him while he focused his attention on the body laying in the seat with him. "I think he's dead."

"We should climb up there…" the man next to them suggested again.

"No," she snapped back at him, refocusing her attention back on Bernard. "I need you to focus, Bernard. Unbuckle your seatbelt." She watched with a relieved smile as he unbuckled his seatbelt, panicking slightly at the loss of restraints as he grabbed at the armrests to steady himself.

"Oh god, he's gonna make himself fall," Sam muttered.

"Glass half full please," the woman sing-songed over her shoulder. "Now grab the branch next to you," she yelled up at him. All three of them watched with baited breath as Bernard eyed the thick branch closest to him. "I don't think I can do that."

"Bernard, man, those seats are gonna fall," Sam shouted up at him, stepping forward so he was side by side with the woman. "This sugar coating crap isn't gonna light a fire under his ass," Sam told her at her questioning look. He smiled down at her as they watched Bernard slowly lean forward over the dead body, his fingers brushing over the branch.

"Come on, Bernard. You can do this," she yelled up at him, ignoring the smug look Sam was sporting. She let out a short gasp as the seats started rocking from the branches. "Bernard!" They all watched in horrified shock as the seats plummeted from the trees, crashing loudly on the ground before them.

"Silver lining, ladies and gentlemen," Sam chuckled, pointing up at Bernard as he clung to the branch, his eyes wide with fear.

"Arlight, hold on tight, ok? I'm coming up to get you," the woman yelled up, smiling back at Sam and the man with them as she headed up to bring him down.

* * *

Sam sat down on the warm sand, stretching his aching limbs against the wet fabric of his clothes. He'd left the woman and man in the jungle to get Bernard down, knowing he could probably be of help somewhere else. Sure enough, when he emerged from the trees, the same man from before had still been bringing bodies in, and he looked as exhausted as Sam felt. Sure, he'd only managed to save a few people that had still been clinging to wreckage, but at least nobody had been left behind and Eko, as he'd remembered to ask his name, had gotten some help.

As if his muscles didn't hurt enough, the pain in his head was coming back at full force. _Obviously it was the adrenaline keeping me from doing a pole dance for an ibuprofen, _Sam thought, bummed that his body was coming down and revealing all of its kinks. He couldn't remember if he'd been hit in the head with anything and there were no bumps that he could feel, but something was nagging at him other than his brother being missing. _What the hell am I forgetting?_

"So, clearly this plane crash is keeping you from your lucrative career as a motivational speaker," the same woman from before said, taking a seat next to Sam. She looked back out towards the water, noticing that there were no more bodies floating around, only wreckage. "Did that guy get everyone?"

"Almost," Sam told her with small smile. "I helped him with the last few people, but he did most of it while we were all in the jungle."

"We got Bernard down, by the way," she told him, smiling at his satisfied nod. "Trust me when I say that it took me just as long to get him out of the tree than it did to get him out of the seats." She shook her head in disbelief to go with her shaking head. "To think, that could have been you up there," she voiced, a cheeky smile crossing her features.

Sam matched her smile as he rolled his eyes, pointing back at the treeline. "If I had been the lucky one to get stuck in a row of seats being held up by a rickety tree, I assure you, you'd never have known about it. I'd have managed to get myself down."

"You seem pretty sure about that."

Sam chuckled as he realized she was teasing him. He nodded his head in the direction she had just come, watching in amusement as the man that had been in the jungle with them kept trying to start a fire by rubbing a stick against another one. "Case in point. You think someone should tell Boy Scout Ken Doll that the only result of his actions will be calloused hands?"

She followed his gaze to Goodwin, watching as he continued with the sticks, stopping only once to inspect his hands with a wince. "Care to elaborate?"

Sam let out a deep breath of air, pointing back at him. "First off, he didn't manage to gather any kindling, so even if he were able to make a spark, the sand won't hold it. Not that it matters, because there's no way he'll get a spark, because the wood he's using as a drill isn't dry."

She looked back in his direction, shocked that she hadn't noticed before that the wood had a slightly darker color to it from being wet. "Huh, look at that. You, my friend, could be a detective, hands down."

She didn't comment when Sam snorted in mock offense at her, just kept staring back at the man trying unsuccessfully to start the fire. "You know, Goodwin," she began motioning back to the fire starter. "He told me he was in the Peace Corps."

Sam's face scrunched up as he looked back at her, deliberating this new information in his head. "I didn't even know the Peace Corps taught survival skills," Sam honestly told her. "My dad was an ex-marine, so you tend to forget about the more pacifist side of government volunteer programs when you're running 13 miles every morning."

"Wow, and I thought working for my mother was bad," she commented with a chuckle. They sat back as a comfortable silence settled over them, content to take a few moments and watch the sun as it fell into the water. "I'm Ana Lucia, by the way."

Sam looked back over at her, smiling even though her gaze was still directed on the sunset. "Sam."

* * *

It was when the sun was finally rising that Sam stood with several of the other survivors, staring down at the dead bodies they had laid out on the beach. They had all been sitting around the fire Sam had shown Goodwin how to start the previous night when the sounds entered their campsite. Someone was grunting as if struggling with something, breaking them all out of their reverie as they scrambled towards it.

By the time the three of them had arrived where the noises should have been, they were too late. Eko had been covered in blood, wild eyed and holding a rock in his hand.

Ana Lucia knelt in between the two bodies, checking through their plain clothing as she shook her head in frustration. "No wallets. No cell phone. No keys, nothing," she observed as she stood back up, dusting her hands off on her jeans.

Sam barely listened to her, instead watching Mr. Eko as he removed his blood stained shirt, the guilt apparent on his features. He knew how guilty he still felt over Jessica's death and that had been months ago. "Hey," he asked in his direction, waiting until Eko notched his head in his direction. "Are you ok?" _He's a priest that just killed two people, of course he's not ok, _he thought, not taking any offense as his question was met with silence.

"Hey, look," Nathan, one of the other survivors yelled as he came running out of the jungle. Sam watched as Ana Lucia turned towards him, glad she was fine with taking over as leader of the group. "Three other people are missing…the blonde guy, the curly haired guy and the German who was helping us with the injured."

Sam closed his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief as he listened to their conversation and questions regarding the dead people in front of them. "Who are these people?" he heard Nathan ask.

"I don't know," Ana Lucia answered him truthfully. "They're out here in the jungle with no shoes, nothing in their pockets, no labels on their clothes."

"Ana Lucia, these people were here before us," Sam said over his shoulder, finally putting the pieces together.

He turned back around, watching as the features on Ana Lucia's face slacked in disbelief. "We need to get off the beach. We need to find a safer place."

Sam rolled his eyes, knowing that if they left it would be more difficult for them to be found. He looked towards the jungle, knowing his brother could be on this same island somewhere looking for him or he could be hurt.

"We've got kids and people who are seriously hurt," Nathan pointed out. "Where are we gonna go, hm? How are we gonna move them? And what about the signal fire? How are we gonna get rescued if we're off the beach?"

"Nathan's right," Goodwin pointed out.

Sam watched the exchange, his head beginning to hurt again. There was something he was supposed to remember, something important, but he was still drawing a blank. If only Dean were here, he'd be able to figure this all out. He'd be able to protect all of them from whatever was hiding in the jungle and picking them off one by one.

"They have satellites…the black box. We don't need a fire for them to find us," Ana Lucia argued, her tone indicating that she was getting more and more desperate to change their location.

"Yes, we do," Cindy interjected. Sam turned towards the woman that had been taking care of the children the night before, his interest piqued. "Before the crash, the pilot said we'd lost communication...we were turning back. We were flying for two hours in the wrong direction," Sam panicked as he realized what this meant. "They don't know where to look."

_Oh, that's just great_, Sam thought, turning back to the signal fire. His head started hammering as he rubbed at his temples, his attention fixated on the flames. He jerked his head as felt a drop on his forehead and then another one before his heart seized up.

In the middle of the fire, he could see her. He could see Jessica. Her eyes were glazed over and there was a large gash in her stomach as the fire seemed to grow around her.

_No, Jessica. No!_

"Are you there?" Sam heard someone ask. He looked down at Ana Lucia's concerned face and back up at the fire, noticing that it was back to normal. It all came back to him. The plane getting caught up in turbulence. His concern for his brother as he watched him just bobbing his head to the CDs he had made him. The man smiling over at him, as if he knew him before his eyes turned yellow.

"You were right, Ana Lucia. We need to find a safer place."

* * *

Dean leaned back in the sand, half listening to the circle of people around him as they discussed the growling from the night before. It was taking all of his mental capacity to try to figure out if it matched anything he'd ever come across during any hunt. For every monster and bump in the night he put an "X" next to in his mind, his panic for his brother went up a notch.

_It's not like it matters if I figure this thing out or not, _he thought. M_y guns and knives are M.I.A, the only salt I have is in the ocean and Sammy had Dad's journal packed with him. _Dean breathed in deeply through his nose, trying to stop the burning sensation forming in the back of his throat at the thought of his brother. He sat up and brushed off the sand on his arms as he refocused his attention on the group he was sitting with, surprised to find the guy that had been passing out airline meals the previous night kneeling with them and talking.

"It's pretty grim in there. Do you think we should do something about the …" Hurley paused, glancing sideways at Walt as he looked to be working something out in his head. "B-O-D-Y-S."

Dean tilted his head, sharing a look with Charlie as he silently spelled the word out. "What are you spelling, man? Bodies?" Michael asked.

"B-O-D-I-E-S." Walt corrected him. Dean looked over at the father and son and back at Hurley, his face scrunched in confusion.

"Hang on a second, chicken or fish. What are you talking about here?" Dean asked.

"The fuselage," Sayid informed him, turning back to Hurley at Dean's nod of understanding. "That sounds like a good idea."

"No," Shannon scoffed. "They'll deal with it when they get here."

"When they get here?" Dean repeated incredulously as he leaned towards Shannon. "Sweetheart, we don't know when that is." He shook his head in disbelief as Shannon rolled her eyes before turning his attention to the more rational people he was sitting with. "Look, I'm not sure anyone else here has smelled a dead body, but times that by the several more inside the cooking hot fuselage can and this beach will be unbearable by tomorrow morning. Worst case scenario is that it attracts whatever made those noises last night."

Shannon snorted as she began to examine her nails, opting not to further the argument. "So then, that would mean…" Hurley began.

"It means you had one hell of an idea," Dean told him, throwing a winning grin in his direction. "Let me know if you end up needing any help."

"Me, as well," Sayid threw in, keeping a curious eye on Dean.

"I'm gonna go out and look for the cockpit," Jack interrupted them as he knelt down next to Shannon. "See if we can find a transceiver to send a distress signal…help the rescue team." Shannon shot a triumphant smirk in Dean's direction as Dean rolled his eyes, biting his tongue from reminding her that helping the rescue team was a lot different than getting rescued.

He looked back towards the jungle, blocking out Jack and Boone's conversation as he drifted back to his thoughts. The cockpit couldn't be too far from the tail section, could it? He turned back towards his group, watching as Charlie stood up with Jack, his face carrying what Dean was beginning to realize was his usual nonchalant expression. "I'll come with," he brushed off his hands with a smile as if to prove his point. "I wanna help."

Jack put up his hand and shook his head, trying to hold him off. "I don't need any more help."

"No, it's cool. I don't really feel like standing still so…" Charlie began, watching as Jack seemed to be weighing the option of insisting that he not come. Charlie smiled wide as Jack nodded his head before turning around and leaving.

"Excellent," he said as he jogged to catch up with him. Dean smiled as he watched Charlie leave, his attention once more turning to the jungle.

"Wait a second," he muttered to himself, snapping his gaze back to Charlie's retreating form. "Charlie! Hey man, wait up," Dean yelled, jumping up from the sand and running to catch him. He smiled as Charlie turned back around and waited as Dean jogged the distance between them.

"What's up?" Charlie asked.

"Hey, is there any chance I can ask a favor of you?" Dean inquired.

Charlie smiled wide as he shrugged innocently. "Well, if you're asking me to pick up a bottle of gin and make sure I re-stock the toilet paper supply…"

Dean chuckled at his response, shaking his head at the humor that he could relate to. "Nah man, nothing like that, but I appreciate the thought. Look, I know you guys are looking specifically for the cockpit, but if you come across any other debris, mainly the tail end of the plane, could you let me know when you guys get back?" Dean asked.

Charlie nodded around a shrug, still smiling up at him. "I actually happen to be an expert at looking around and noticing stuff. Is there something in particular you're looking for?" Charlie asked.

"More like a someone," Dean told him, nodding over at Jack and Kate as they waited for Charlie. He lowered himself down to Charlie's level and handed him a full bottle of water. "Look, don't ask me why, but if you manage to get caught up with the thing from last night, throw a little bit of this at it."

"Sure man, thanks." He squinted at the murky substance in the bottle before looking back up at Dean. "What is it?"

Dean looked down at him with a smile before motioning towards the ocean. "It's salt water," he told him, smiling at his look of confusion. "It's just an experiment I've been dying to try."

**Author's Note: My computer's all fixed! YAY! I have to say I'm very glad that I didn't start writing this story until now because we've gotten a few answers out of the LOST final season that is totally playing up the muse part right now. Also, can I just give out a digital high five to all the people that reviewed the first chapter? ELEVEN REVIEWS! I frickin love you people!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

"SON OF A BITCH!" Dean shouted, slamming the last of the overhead compartments shut. He balled up his fists, breathing slowly in and out in an effort to keep his fury at bay. "Screw that," he muttered as he stalked forward, stopping at one of the airline chairs and letting loose. He grinned as his efforts dislocated the headrest, sending it flying in an arc across the battered fuselage.

He let out a deep breath of air as he collapsed into the chair next to his make-shift punching bag, wishing he had a beer to calm down the buzzing from his head to his toes. This was supposed to have been part of a very simple plan, initiated after watching the determined way that Charlie, Jack and Kate had strode into the same jungle that contained the sounds that were keeping him out. Find their bags.

There was no way in hell that Dean planned on traipsing into the territory of something he couldn't identify without the few weapons he and Sam had managed to get past customs. No way was he attempting to go into that jungle without combing through his dad's journal in hopes that the growling could be identified. And…honestly, a fresh change of clothes wouldn't hurt either.

"Alright Plan B…anytime now," Dean sing-songed into the empty fuselage as he massaged his aching temples. He rolled his eyes as he reached out for the last two bags he had found and opened them up. With the hours since the crash piling up and the injured people still injured, he knew that the need for medicine was climbing and he doubted anyone would mind sharing. He grinned at the white plastic bottle lying underneath some clothes, pulling it out with a chuckle as he read the label. "Viagra. Good for you, Don Aubrey."

He pulled out anything else that could be of use without it being an invasion of privacy and added it to the smaller bag he had been using to collect what he found. _Opening the bags in the first place was an invasion of privacy, _he thought. _Just think of who could have your bags and be playing with your weapons right now. _

He grimaced as the thought made him sick to his stomach. There could be someone out there right now, reading his dad's journal and trying to make sense of a stash of guns and knives. He shook the thought aside, standing and hoping to busy himself enough to keep his mind quiet. "Might as well check the rest of this place before I move on," he murmured, knowing that not many people would endure the smell to find their belongings.

He stretched high, grunting as his body gave way to popping in various places just as the natural light from the sun vanished, washing the cabin in darkness. "What the hell…" Dean's attention shot to the ceiling as his ears picked up the sound of heavy rain slamming into the metal construction. "Oh no, go right ahead mother nature. The smell of dead bodies wasn't really doing it for me. Might as well add damp to them."

Dean put his hand up in front of his face, what he guessed was about six inches away as he squinted his eyes, trying to make out the shape before dropping it back down and surrendering to the darkness. There was no way he'd be able to navigate through the debris and dead bodies let alone find anything useful. "Is this my punishment for that waitress in Des Moines?" Dean asked at the ceiling.

He collapsed back down in his seat, glad that the darkness was hiding that fact that he was pouting. _I'm not sure what else can happen to slow down my search for Sam,_ Dean thought, leaning forward and rubbing his temples again, hoping to alleviate some of the tension. _Thank god Dad doesn't know that I've lost Sammy._

Dean stopped rubbing as his back arched up ramrod straight, his breathing becoming slightly labored as a new thought assaulted his mind. _Dad doesn't know where we are. _He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down as the panic he already had for Sam spiked as he thought of his father. "Oh god. Neither of us called him before we boarded the plane in Los Angeles," Dean told himself.

It had already been months since Dean had seen or heard from their dad. How long would it take before John decided to come out of hiding? How long before there was a hunt complex enough that he called Dean for help. A week? A month? A year?

"Ok, it'll take about two days of me not returning his calls before he completely freaks out," Dean admitted to himself. From there, John's first step would probably be calling every resource they'd ever made as hunters. "After that fails," Dean snorted, "he'll probably start checking through all of our Postage Boxes." _Which one was the credit card statement with the plane tickets going to? _Dean wondered in exasperation. "Well, it's a damn good thing that the crash didn't kill me…wouldn't want to deprive dad when he finally does find us."

* * *

Sam walked through the trees not far from the beach, marking his path with pieces of his overshirt. So far, he hadn't been able to find his bag and couldn't determine which direction their part of the plane had come from.

"This is frickin hopeless," he muttered, collapsing onto the foliage and wiping away at the beads of sweat forming on his brow. "Dean's gone, I have nothing to hunt with and our group is being targeted by hostiles. Either our plane was cursed or I'm getting what I deserve for not doing anything to save Jessica."

Ever since the attack from the previous night, the survivors had been growing panicky and restless. Plane crash survivors was one thing, but having them all divided by one issue was quite another. It seemed like it was almost exactly half that wanted to stay put and keep feeding the signal fire, and the other half that wanted to leave and find shelter or the other parts of the plane.

He was all for both actions, which really frustrated him. On the one hand, he knew his brother was somewhere on this island and he wanted nothing more than to leave and make finding him the number one priority. On the other hand, as much as he hated it, he had been raised by John Winchester and, even now, his father's voice was booming in his head about how the best chance of survival was staying put.

_

* * *

"__Alright, class. The state has prepared and sent in a survey to each school district for completion by the students. While this will not count as a grade, it will act as a means to gauge your reaction in a situation requiring the use of survival skills in a life threatening situation," the teacher informed the class._

_Sam groaned, wondering for a tiny moment if his father had something to do with this "state survey." It wouldn't shock him to discover that John Winchester had found a way to keep his youngest son training while he was in school. Sam's only escape._

"_Right now, I'm passing out your scenario and a list of items that your party has managed to collect. Please read along with me."_

_Sam looked down at the paper in front of him, breathing out in relief as he read through the first few lines. No way in hell was his father responsible for such a ridiculous scenario, even if the end goal was to teach him a lesson._

_**You have just crash-landed in the woods of North Minnesota. It is 11:32 AM in mid-January. The small plane in which you were traveling was completely destroyed except for the frame. The pilot and co-pilot have been killed, but no one else is seriously injured. The crash came suddenly before the pilot had time to radio for help or inform anyone of your position. Since your pilot was trying to avoid a storm, you know the plane was considerably off course. The pilot announced shortly before the crash that you were 80 miles northwest of a small town that is the nearest known habitation. You are in a wilderness area made up of thick woods broken by many lakes and rivers. The last weather report indicated that the temperature would reach minus 25 degrees in the daytime and minus 40 at night. You are dressed in winter clothing appropriate for city wear—suits, casual clothes, street shoes, and overcoats. **_

**_While escaping from the plane your group salvaged the fifteen items listed below. Your objective is two things. First, decide if your party should stay and wait for help to arrive or if your party should venture to rescue. Second, rank the following items according to their importance to your survival and why you think the first ranked thing(aka chocolate bar) is more important to survival than the next ranked thing(aka a pistol)._**

**_-compress kit (with 28 feet of 2" gauze)_**  
**_-ball of steel wool_**  
**_-cigarette lighter without fluid_**  
**_-loaded .45 caliber pistol_**  
**_-newspaper (one per person)_**  
**_-compass_**  
**_-two ski poles_**  
**_-knife_**  
**_-sectional air map made of plastic_**  
**_-30 feet of rope_**  
**_-family-sized chocolate bar, one per person_**  
**_-flashlight with batteries_**  
**_-quart of 85-proof whiskey_**  
**_-extra shirt and pants for each person_**  
**_-can of shortening_**

_Sam chuckled as he finished reading. This plane crashed so badly that it was completely destroyed except for the frame and only the pilot and co-pilot were killed? That wasn't even the most ridiculous part about the survey. "Why the hell is there a can of shortening on this flight?" He muttered to himself._

"_Hey, Winchester. Mrs. Parks said we're partners on this one," he heard above him. He looked up and groaned at the pretty blonde girl wearing a large letterman jacket standing before him. She rolled her eyes as she took the seat in front of him and pulled out her sheet of paper._

"_First things first. We obviously don't need to stay and wait for rescue, we should just hike out and find rescue," she told him, a haughty smile on her face._

_Sam snorted, holding back his laughter as his father's voice in his head told him to do the contrary. "How do you figure, Rutherford?"_

_She scoffed at him, her smile disappearing as annoyance at being questioned spread over her features. "Look, Winchester, everyone knows it's smarter to actually do something rather than wait for something to happen, alright? Control the situation." She rolled her eyes again before writing that they would leave to find rescue on top of their shared paper in pen._

"_Hey, Shannon, wait. I didn't agree to that." Sam exclaimed, yanking the paper out of her hands. He looked back up at her, his eyes narrowed into slits._

"_Too late," she smiled at him before inspecting her nails. She looked back up at him, her smile vanishing at the look of pure rage on her partner's face before she recovered with an incredulous scowl of her own. "Calm down, Sam. It's not like it matters, anyways. This doesn't even count as a grade."_

* * *

Sam smiled as he remembered the look on that girl's face as their teacher had informed the class that the best course of action, according to the state, would be to stay put and wait for rescue. If he remembered correctly, she had been so incensed at being wrong that she'd told her jock boyfriend some story about him. The next day he arrived at school to stares and pointing, only to find out that he was the number one topic in the student rumor mill due to the bulls-eye on his back for daring to mess with a football player's girlfriend. Not that it had mattered. Dean had gotten wind of that rumor and shut that jock down before he could even mess with Sam, earning Dean a week long suspension. Two weeks after that little incident, Dad had finally found and killed the spirit he was hunting and they were on their way to the next hunt.

"Maybe it would be for the best if we stayed on the beach," he muttered to himself, not wanting to contradict his freshman counterpart. He thought back to that morning on the beach, to his mind finally letting him remember seeing that monster on the plane. "How can I even know if that was real or not?"

How could it not be? He had seen that man smile directly at him before his eyes turned yellow. The plane had barely even hit some turbulence at that point, so it couldn't have been a stress-induced hallucination. Maybe he was just losing his mind. "Or, maybe that thing was on the plane too, which means the thing that killed mom and Jess could be somewhere on this island."

* * *

"Stupid redneck jackass," Dean heard from outside the fuselage. He looked up and squinted against the sunlight that was pouring back into the fuselage. "When the hell did the rain stop?" He asked aloud.

Dean watched as the light from outside was obstructed by someone in front of the cabin opening, hunching as they scanned the surroundings before stopping at Dean. "Dude, why are you sitting in the middle of the Land of the Dead?"

"Hurley?" Dean asked, ignoring his question as he shielded his eyes from the rest of the sun coming in.

"That's the name they gave me."

Dean chuckled as he stood up from his seat and stretched out his kinked muscles, wondering how long he'd been sitting when his neck popped. "Man, I wasn't kidding when I told you it was ripe in here," Hurley said, plugging his nose in disgust.

Dean smiled as he pointed to the piece of his overshirt he had torn off and tied around his nasal passages and mouth. "Eh, you get used to it. Besides, I'm pretty desperate to find my bag."

"Hey, I wanna find my stuff too, but not this badly."

Dean shrugged as he walked towards the opening, waiting as Hurley followed him out before removing his bandana and taking a deep breath of the clean ocean air. "If you're that freaked out by the makeshift crypt, then why'd you go in there?"

"Just wanted to get away from that jerk, Sawyer," Hurley told him, his brow furrowing in anger. At Dean's confused look Hurley's face softened and he pointed back up the beach. "Guy with the southern accent that thinks he owns the entire beach. I mean, first he picks a fight with Sayid and then…"

"Wait, what?" Dean cut him off.

"Oh yeah, you were in there," Hurley remembered, pointing at the fuselage. "You see, Sawyer was convinced that it was Sayid that wrecked the plane, probably because of the whole 9-11 thing. Then, before you know it they're full on Obi-Wan and Vader," Hurley explained to him.

"They had lightsabers?" Dean asked.

"No," Hurley answered, a wistful look on his face. "But that would have been so cool."

Dean chuckled, shaking his head at Hurley's enthusiasm. "Please, just tell me someone stopped them," Dean requested, surprised he hadn't even heard a fight going on.

"Oh yeah, no worries. Jack pulled Sawyer off of Sayid right when they were getting back."

"They're back?"

"Yup, found a transceiver or something, but it's not working. Sayid's trying to see if he can fix it. Did you know that dude was a communications officer for the Republican Guard?"

Dean groaned as he ran a tired hand through his hair. "You know, as much as I like Sayid, he probably shouldn't volunteer that information to a bunch of paranoid American plane crash survivors," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Any idea where Jack went to?"

"I think he's checking on that guy with the shrapnel," Hurley told him, pointing to his stomach.

"Alright, thanks, man." Dean gave him one last smile before heading back to the smaller bag he'd left by his seat. He shouldered it and headed away from the fuselage towards the bushes where he remembered Jack taking the unconscious man.

Thinking about the shard of metal Jack had been forced to keep lodged in that man's midsection, Dean winced. "That guy is either the most unlucky bastard on the planet, or he's got a mother curse on him." He stumbled as he collided with a woman as she rushed by him, throwing a 'sorry' over her shoulder before continuing on.

"Ok then," he nodded at her retreating form before continuing around the foliage until he entered the clearing. He watched as Jack knelt over the unconscious man, checking the shrapnel with a small flashlight. Another involuntary shudder went through him as he wondered if this man would even survive. "Hey, doc."

Jack looked up, his face grim as he nodded in his direction before standing up and wiping his hands on his pants. "Hey, um…"

"Dean," he answered him, putting a hand on his chest.

"Yeah, that's right. Dean. How can I help you?"

"More like how can I help you," he answered, throwing him the small bag. Jack looked up at him in confusion before pulling the zipper open, his eyes going wide. "Where'd you find all of this?"

"Well, while you three were off looking for any chance at rescue, I got it in my head to find my bags," he explained to him. "So, I spent the last several hours in the fuselage going through what was in there. I'll admit I had to open a few suitcases to find some of those medications, but we're all in this together, right?"

"You may very well be the hero of this plane crash," Jack told him, looking like a kid on Christmas. "Too bad you didn't happen to find a scalpel with all of this."

Dean reached into his back pocket and pulled out an old pocket knife, opening it up to reveal the blade. "Not a scalpel, but I never go anywhere without this. It's sharpened too," he said, handing it over to Jack. Jack gingerly placed his thumb on the blade, smiling at the feel of the sharpened metal. "Alright, you've just been upgraded from hero to godsend."

* * *

After leaving Jack with the few tools he'd been able to find that might assist him in helping any of the injured people, Dean had left to resume the search for his bags. After all, Jack was more than capable and had the proper help in the form of the eager brother of Shannon. That thought was pushed aside, though, as Dean watched Boone leaving with the rest of the people in the new hiking party.

"Why the hell is Jack's nursemaid leaving right when he's getting ready to work on that guy with the shrapnel," Dean asked out loud.

"Oh, you mean Boone? I think he's just going to make sure his sister stays out of trouble," a voice spoke up behind him. Dean turned around to see the pregnant woman seated with her arm draped over her belly. "I think Jack asked Hurley to help him."

"Hurley? Jack asked the guy that couldn't stomach the smell from the fuselage to assist with a surgery?"

"Yeah, I think so," she told him with a wry smile and a shrug.

Dean groaned before falling into a dead sprint all the way to the clearing, not at all shocked by the sight that greeted him. Hurley was passed out on top of Jack's patient while Jack was trying his hardest to reach a bundle of rags that had been placed too far away.

"Dean, thank god. I need those rags," Jack begged, nodding to the stack he was reaching towards in vain.

Dean grabbed a bundle and handed them over, watching as Jack applied the first one and removed it within minutes as it soaked through with blood. "Man, is he supposed to be losing that much blood?" Dean asked as he rolled Hurley off of the injured man.

"No, he's not. I couldn't leave the metal in, though, or he would have died. I'm trying to do what I can, but…"

"Don't beat yourself up, man. We all know the situation sucks," Dean told him. He looked down at the man on the ground, noticing that his eyes were closed and his facial features very still. "Did you knock him out or anything?"

Jack continued to work on the wound, shaking his head as he did. "We didn't have anything that would be strong enough. I was kinda just hoping that he wouldn't wake up."

"Badass," Dean muttered as he studied the wound. It didn't look good, even with the effort that Jack seemed to be putting into it. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Considering you haven't passed out yet, yes," Jack hissed, throwing a frustrated look at Hurley that softened almost immediately. "Look, I need you to hold him down in case he does wake up. Just make sure he doesn't panic and move around too much."

Dean nodded as he positioned himself where Hurley had been at the man's head before grasping his shoulders and pushing down. "Hate to say it, but this is the easiest job I've ever had."

Jack shook his head incredulously, a smirk growing on his features. "Yeah, remember it was you that said that if he actually wakes up and sees me messing around with the hole in his gut."

Dean's smile faded as he silently hoped that this guy would just stay unconscious. He wasn't particularly fond of having to comfort people when they were in pain, and that was generally of the emotional variety. _Speaking of…_"Shouldn't the pain be waking him up?"

"Actually, the pain is what's keeping him out. His injuries are severe enough that his body is keeping him unconscious to protect itself," Jack said. "I've never actually seen it before, but I've heard of it happening. Kind of like nature's anesthesia."

"Huh. Well, here's to small mira…" Dean jumped, his gaze popping up to Jack as the guy he was holding down let out a deep breath around a moan. Dean watched as all the blood drained from Jack's face as he shook his head incredulously.

"No," Jack murmured, as Dean pushed back down on the man's shoulders while he moaned. The man stilled slowly, his moaning tapering off as it looked like his thought processes were coming back to him. They both watched in shock as the man raised his arm and reached up to grab Jack by the front of his shirt.

"Where is she?" he rasped out.

Jack stared at him, his eyes wide as he tried to pry the man's hand off of his shirt. "Who?" Dean scooted next to Jack and began peeling the man's fingers away from Jack while pushing down on his chest in an effort to keep him still. "Whoa there, you need to stay still." The man struggled weakly against Dean's hand for a moment before stopping, exhaustion clear on his face as he looked up at his captor, his eyes widening in recognition.

"You," Dean looked down at him, the question clear on his features as he realized that this man recognized him. He couldn't even remember having seen him on the plane let alone recognizing him. "We know each other, pal?"

"It knew you. It was in me because of you."

"Maybe it's just me, but I really don't wanna know what was inside this guy. Especially if it was because of me," Dean mumbled to Jack.

"He's delirious, I have to get him closed up before he loses too much more blood," Jack said, snapping out of his daze and scooting forward to continue working on him.

Dean watched as the man groaned as he rolled onto his side slightly, trying to reach out to Dean. "Keep him still," Jack commanded.

"It wants your family. It wants the Winchesters."

Dean's eyes went wide as he looked over at Jack, shaking his head in disbelief. "There's no way in hell he'd know what my last name is. I've never met him before."

"Maybe he saw your name on your boarding pass or something," Jack reasoned.

Dean thought back to him and Sam scrambling around at the last second in Los Angeles to get tickets on the possessed plane. After digging around in his box of IDs, Dean had handed over the passports and credit card information for Dean Frost and Sam Hetfield to Sam. As far as any record in the whole of planet Earth, Sam and Dean Winchester had never even stepped on a flight to Australia, let alone one returning to America.

"Damnit, Dean, hold him down or he's going to bleed out." Jack shouted as Dean's grip slacked and the man grabbed weakly onto Dean's wrist.

"He's here," the man said, his breathing growing more and more ragged. "Yellow eyes…" he rasped out before falling back into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note: Dun Dun Dun...the plot thickens. I am really sorry that this update took as long as it did. My computer crashed AGAIN and I had to write this during lunch breaks at work. However, next month I have already budgeted for a new laptop, so updates should happen more frequently. I have no plans to abandon this story, so just have some Locke sized faith and I'll do my part. Also, I want the generous people sticking with this story to know that it has already been planned out until the end. This story (more like series) will encompass the whole of LOST. All that needs doing now is to write down what I've thought up. Hope everyone enjoys this little filler chapter and gives me some love!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

Dean stood in the open tent he, Jack and Hurley had constructed around the Marshall the night before, staring down at the unconscious man. His mind was buzzing with the amount of questions he had flying around, frustrated that answers would have to wait until the man in question regained consciousness. "You know, you don't have to keep watching him. He's not going anywhere," Jack spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

Dean snorted as he tore his gaze away from the Marshall and focused on Jack, triumphantly keeping the laugh in his throat down at the look of concern on his face. "Look, no offense to you, because I realize that you're trying your damndest to keep this guy alive…but me? I'm just kinda hoping he lives long enough to answer some questions."

"He freaked you out that badly?" Jack asked, kneeling down to check his patient's abdomen. Dean watched as he pressed down, lightly, in a few different spots before looking back up at him. "You know, his body has been through an extremely traumatic ordeal, not to mention the blood loss he's suffering. I'm pretty much betting everything he said during his surgery can be chalked up to delirious ramblings."

"What about after his surgery?" Dean asked, allowing his voice to fill with condescension. "Maybe it's just me, but that mug shot didn't seem to be a delirious rambling." Dean watched Jack's face fall as he subconsciously fingered the folded piece of paper in his pocket containing the copy of Kate's mug shot. So far, only he, Jack and Hurley were aware that she had been the Marshall's prisoner. "I don't know about you, but I'm still kinda wondering what she did."

Jack turned away from Dean, pressing his hands back down on his patient's chest once more while he shook his head. "It's not really any of my…"

"Dudes. Dudes…hey, you guys," Hurley yelled, bursting into the tent. He looked between the two of them while he tried to catch his breath, waiting until he had their attention. "They're back."

Dean looked over at Jack, a pensive look covering his face while Jack stood back up. "Did they manage to contact any of the rescue parties?" Dean asked Hurley.

"I don't think so, dude. Sayid's gathering everyone right now to discuss it."

"Sayid's gathering everyone? Looks like you might have some competition in the leader department," Dean observed with a smile to Jack.

"It's not a competition if it's something I never wanted," Jack huffed, shaking his head in disbelief as he headed out of the tent.

"He may not want it, but him being the only doctor on the island makes it his," Dean told Hurley before running to catch up with him. He could hear Sayid as they rounded a corner onto the beach, continuing to walk with Jack and Hurley to get to the rest of the group.

"As you and the others know, we hiked up the mountain in an attempt to help the rescue team locate us," Sayid informed everyone. "The transceiver failed to pick up a signal. We weren't able to send out a call for help. But, we're not giving up. If we gather electronic equipment …your cell phones, laptops…I can boost the signal and we can try again. But, that may take some time, so for now we should begin rationing out remaining food. If it rains, we should set up tarps to collect water."

"That actually seems like a pretty good idea" Dean muttered, impressed that someone amongst them was finally thinking about survival instead of rescue. It had only taken three days. His attention shifted from Sayid as he saw Kate making her way through the crowd towards them, her eyeline set on Jack. "Don't look now, Clyde, but Bonnie's headed this way," he muttered, pointing her out.

"Ha…cuz she's a criminal and has a thing for Jack," Hurley said, giving Dean the thumbs up.

Dean snorted at the incensed look Jack was sending Hurley, slapping a hand on his shoulder as he shook his head in amusement.

"I need to organize three separate groups," Sayid informed everyone. "Each group should have a leader. One group for water…I'll organize that. Who's gonna organize electronics? You?" Sayid pointed out into the crowd as a man raised his hand timidly, so far in the front that Dean had to stand on his tiptoes to see who it was. "Rationing food?"

Dean raised his hand. "Yeah, I can handle the chow," he yelled to Sayid. He looked back over at the curious looks from Jack and Hurley and shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, you guys are gonna wanna thank me when I find a McDonalds on this island."

"Man, I'd pretty much kill for a Big Mac," Hurley commiserated, grinning at the chuckle his statement elicited from Dean. He stopped laughing and stood up straight as Kate finally reached them, gracing Dean and Hurley with a polite smile and nod before turning her full attention to Jack. "I uh…I need to tell you something."

Jack furrowed his brow before nodding for her to continue. She glanced again at Dean and then Hurley, smiling at them both before shaking her head. "Privately."

"BONNIE!" Dean coughed into his hand. He looked up to see Jack's face contorted in frustration, Hurley's face lit up with amusement and Kate's face scrunched up in confusion. "Sorry, must be all this sand."

"Ok, sure," Jack began, throwing one last look at Dean. "Let's just…" he began, motioning for Kate to lead the way. Dean watched as Jack followed behind her, shaking his head, probably at Dean, the entire trek away from them before disappearing over the dunes.

"Ok, time to come up with a grub plan. Interested in co-captaining this gig?" Dean asked Hurley.

* * *

"Not joining in the search for food?" Sam asked, taking a seat next to Ana Lucia. She looked up at him from the cloth she was cutting up before looking out at the other survivors. She watched with a dubious expression as they continued searching the beach.

"Oh, you mean trying to see if anything edible managed to fall out of the part of the plane that we were so lucky to be on when it crashed in the water instead of maybe looking inland?" She asked, a cheeky grin finishing off her question. Sam let out a deep laugh as he shook his head in agreement.

"Actually, to be honest, that's what these are for." Sam indicated to the five long sticks that he had placed next to him, each one with a sharpened tip on the end.

Ana Lucia snorted as she held her hand out, inspecting the stick that Sam handed her. She gingerly tested the sharp tip on her pointer finger with a wince. "You actually made spears," she said, incredulous amusement plain in her voice. "Alright, so clearly in your real life you're the reincarnated Daniel Boone."

Sam laughed loudly, shaking his head at her statement. "I wouldn't say Daniel Boone. I haven't quite mastered the…."

"Ana Lucia, I…" Libby interrupted, squatting next to them. She trailed off as her gaze caught the person sitting next to Ana Lucia. "Oh, Sam. Hi."

"Hi there, Libby," Sam answered her, pulling another stick out of his pile and nestling it into the sand before beginning to whittle it. "How's the patient doing?"

"Patient?" Ana Lucia asked.

"Yeah, the guy with the leg…"

"Donald. That's actually why I cam e over here," Libby said. "His leg? The infection is getting worse," she told them, her face grim. She watched as Sam and Ana Lucia held a silent conversation between themselves before continuing. "He'll be the fourth to go."

"Libby, I'm not trying to sound heartless, but what are we supposed to do?" Sam asked. "We don't have any antibiotics, any painkillers…hell, we don't even have any food, yet."

She gave him a grim smile and a nod before standing up and walking back away from them.

* * *

"I'm seriously starting to think that we've crash landed in the twilight zone," Dean commented, crouching with Hurley under a piece of debris. "I've been traveling the country since I was a kid and I've never really encountered sudden rainstorms showing up before any sign of rainclouds."

"Dude, isn't rainwater supposed to be like…good?" Hurley asked, ignoring Dean and staring out at the falling water. He set down the three empty water bottles he was still juggling before leaning out into the elements with one of them, smiling over at Dean as it began to fill up. "Thank you Boy Scouts of America."

"You were a boy scout?" Dean asked, surprise in his voice.

"Nah, but this seems like something they'd teach," he answered, not noticing the chuckle that cam e from Dean. He watched as the first bottle began filling up and hurriedly put another one right next to it. "Hey, so, totally random question," Hurley began, waiting until he had Dean's full attention. "So, does it make me a total wuss that Kate gives me the creep vibe?"

Dean snorted as he put the last bottle out next to Hurley's before shaking his head. "Not a total wuss, man." His smile faded at the grim look on Hurley's face as he nodded in understanding. "Hey, think of it this way, it's not like your freaked out by Paris Hilton or anything and she also has a mug shot. Can't help it that Kate looks a bit hard-core in hers."

"Yeah, I guess," Hurley shrugged, checking the amount of water in the bottles.

"Is that what's been keeping you so hush hush?" Dean asked. "Why do you even bring her up?"

Hurley leaned back under the cover the debris was providing and shrugged. "It's nothing, really. I just sorta ran into her on my way out of the tent. She was looking for Jack," Hurley told him. "By the way, have you seen him?"

"Yeah, actually, I think he mentioned something about checking through the luggage that went inland for some better meds," Dean said with a shrug.

"Oh, well, maybe she'll still be at the tent when he gets back," Hurley muttered as he leaned forward and checked the bottles again.

"Yeah, maybe," Dean nodded as he leaned back against the hunk of metal, closing his eyes and humming a song that matched the rainfall. _Maybe she'll still be at the tent when he gets back. _Dean snapped back up, scaring Hurley enough to knock one of the bottles over.

"Dude, what the…"

"Kate's at the tent waiting for Jack?" Dean asked, his eyes wide.

"I guess," Hurley told him. "She was headed over there when she bumped into me."

Dean felt the beginnings of a headache coming on as he pinched the bridge of his nose before calmly managing to address Hurley. "Please, tell me that you didn't actually leave the hardcore looking criminal in the same tent housing the wounded Marshall that was escorting her back to America." Hurley's eyes darted to the sand, gulping loudly as he impishly nodded his head.

"Oh no," he growled before climbing out from under the debris and heading towards the tent. "There's no way she'd do anything stupid. He'll be fine when I get there," he pep-talked himself, picking up his pace. As the tent came into view, he also saw Jack approaching from the opposite direction, studying something in his hand.

"Jack!" He yelled, his pace continuing towards him. Jack looked up from one of the pill bottles he had found to see Dean running towards him as he lifted his hand to wave. His smile fell as Dean finally approached him and grabbed his arm, nodding towards the tent as he dragged him along. "She's in there with him," Dean told him. "Alone."

"Are you serious?" Jack asked, jogging the rest of the way beside him. As they neared the tent, they could hear a struggle going on inside, both of them assuming the worst as they ran in. "Um…" Dean began, his eyes going wide at the sight in front of him.

The Marshall was sitting over Kate, choking her with strength he shouldn't have had. "Damnit," Jack yelled as he ran forward and jumped on top of the Marshall, trying his hardest to pry him off. Dean darted towards them, leaning over Kate and grabbing at the hands firmly held around Kate's neck, not caring if he broke his fingers to get his grip to slack.

It only took a moment more of struggling, but the Marshall finally let go, collapsing back onto his bedroll as Jack tried to calm him down while Dean pulled Kate away, wincing as she sucked in each breath with a shuddering cough.

"Are you ok?" Dean asked, squatting in front of her as she continued to cough. "Come on, just calm down a second or you're gonna start hyperventilating.

She nodded at him as she tried to calm down, her gaze flicking over to Jack as he tried to stabilize the Marshall. "Nuh-uh, don't worry about them, just calm down," he said, waiting as she sucked in a few cleaner breaths between coughs. "Yeah, that's right, keep breathing."

"What did you do?" Jack yelled, turning towards her.

"Not now, man. I've almost got her calmed down," Dean hissed.

"I was…just…checking to see if…" she wheezed out, ignoring Dean's protest. "He jumped on me…he grabbed me," Jack shook his head in disbelief as he strode past them, soaking a spare cloth with water and walking back to his patient. He bent over him and slowly squeezed some of the water into his patient's mouth.

Kate moved to get up and follow him, but Dean held her where she was, not wanting to upset her all over again. He could see the worry in her eyes as she watched Jack work and realized that it wasn't worry at being caught. She genuinely cared about the man that was bringing her home to jail. "Hey, is he gonna be ok?" Dean asked for her, smiling at the look of gratitude she gave him.

"He's not responding to the antibiotics, he's bleeding internally and his fever is pushing 104." Jack answered as he gingerly felt on his abdomen, his face falling. "And, his abdomen is rigid."

Kate scooted away from Dean, positioning herself across from Jack right next to the Marshall as she continued to try and catch her breath. Dean watched as he looked up at her, shaking his head in disgust before standing up. "He needs water," he said before exiting the tent. Kate gave Dean a final look before stumbling out to after him.

"Oh geez," he muttered, following after them at a more sedate pace.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Kate yelled, following close behind Jack.

"Uh, that's probably not the best time to…" Dean began from behind her, trying to get her attention so they wouldn't be addressing what he thought they might.

"About what?" Jack asked, turning to look at her as he continued walking.

"About him?"

"I told you, he needs water," Jack answered. Dean snorted as he realized that Jack either had to be purposely evasive or he was the most clueless man in the world. He figured for the first, knowing that as a doctor, what Kate was trying to suggest must have gone against every fiber of his moral code.

"Will he suffer?" She asked, stopping behind him.

Dean watched as Jack stopped and turned back towards her and him. _Ah, that did it. _"What?"

"Will it be quick?" She asked slowly. Dean could tell that her patience for the dance she and Jack were doing was beginning to fade.

"No," Jack answered, shaking his head. "It won't be quick. Two… three… maybe four days." He pointed at the tent for emphasis before leaving to walk away from them.

"And he'll feel it?" Kate asked.

Dean winced at her question, even as Jack turned back around, his face a mask of shock. "Kate, of course he's gonna feel it," Dean answered for him. She looked over in his direction quickly before turning back to Jack, watching as he bent towards the makeshift water trough and dipped his water bottle in there. "Can't you put him out of his misery?"

There it was…Dean had seen this a million times in his life. As a kid, watching Bugs Bunny draw line and after line in the sand until Yosemite Sam stepped over the one that dropped him off of a cliff. As a teenager, being caught by his pseudo-girlfriend in the janitor's closet with another girl. Most recently, as an adult, listening in shock as his father told Sammy that if he walked out of that door, he'd better not think about coming back. All lines. All lines that could either be ignored or crossed. He watched as Jack stood at his full height, stalking back towards Kate until he was inches from her face.

"I saw your mugshot, Kate." Dean watched as a brief flash of shock crossed her features before Jack continued. "I am not…a murderer."

"Jack!" Dean warned, drawing his attention away from Kate long enough for Jack to collect himself and walk back to the tent.

He watched Kate stand still in the same spot, rain still pouring down on her. "Kate…"

"Did you see it too?" She whispered, her voice almost lost in the rain. She turned towards him, her face impressively blank as she waited for his answer.

"Yeah, I did," he told her, watching as she nodded her head and turned away from him. "We all make mistakes, Kate."

She stopped walking, throwing him a look over her shoulder before nodding and continuing away from him.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Dean asked, siding up next to Jack as he stared out at the water. Jack turned towards him and shrugged, his face remaining blank. "What I mean is, shouldn't you be working your magic to find some way to get that guy to stop yelling?"

Jack let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head in defeat. "The only thing that's gonna stop his screaming is death," Jack admitted, his face, once again, slack of any emotion.

Dean breathed in deeply, turning his gaze to the ocean as he nodded his head in understanding. How many friends had he lost in the years he'd be hunting? How many people were they too late to save? It upset him to think that death was constantly lurking around him, and even to this complete stranger, he felt pity. "Look, Jack," Dean spoke up, breaking their brief silence. "The last thing that I wanna do is piss you off. But, based on what we all know, shouldn't you reconsider what Kate was talking about earlier? That guy probably knows he's dying. The last thing he needs is to suffer while he waits for it."

Jack looked over at Dean, his face scrunched up as if in pain as his glassy eyes focused on him. "Dean, I can't," he told him, his voice almost breaking.

"Yo," Hurley approached on Jack's other side, breaking the tension immediately. Jack breathed in deeply to compose himself before turning to Hurley and giving him a smile in lieu of greeting.

"Hey, man," Dean told him, hoping Hurley wouldn't notice how somber they both seemed.

Hurley nodded back at him and looked around their area. "So, where's the fugitive?"

Jack chuckled at his terminology as Dean turned and nodded towards the tent. "She's in the tent."

"You let her in there alone?"

Jack shrugged nonchalantly at his question, barely sparing him a glance. "What's she gonna do? She's 120 pounds soaking wet…"

"Yeah, but she's got that gun," Hurley informed them.

The air around them grew slightly thicker as they both turned to Hurley, identical wide eyed expressions being thrown at him. "What?"

"Dudes, she's strapping." He told them, watching as they both ran up the hill towards the tent. Hurley kept talking as they ran, both stopping cold and letting out breaths of relief as Kate emerged and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Man, that coulda been a close one," Dean muttered to Jack, patting at his heart to try and slow the rapid beating.

Jack continued staring after Kate as he nodded his head at Dean's statement. "Kate!" he yelled, waiting as she stopped and turned towards them. Jack graced her with a small smile, while Dean's eyes narrowed at the torn expression on her face. It wasn't a second longer before a gunshot went off inside the tent, causing Dean and Jack to jump.

They both watched as Kate looked down at the sand, guilt clouding her features before turning from them and walking away. At that exact same moment, Dean, Hurley and Jack watched as a tall guy with long blonde hair that Dean had yet to meet came walking out, his expression unreadable.

"What did you do?" Jack spat.

"What you couldn't," the man responded, equal venom in his voice. Dean watched as Jack marched towards him, the man not stopping his rant. "Look, I get where you're coming from being a doctor and all, but he wanted it. Hell, he asked me. So, I don't like it any more than you do, but something had to be done."

Dean let out a deep sigh as he all but agreed with him. It was almost cruel to keep the Marshall alive with no hope at Jack being able to help him. He was almost relieved that someone had finally stepped up to put the poor guy out of his misery before they all heard a wet hacking cough coming from inside the tent.

"Oh, no way," Hurley muttered from behind them. "Guys…" he began as all three of them ran into the tent.

Dean could see the problem even before Jack crouched down next to the Marshall to check his body as he continued to hack and wheeze. "Oh geez, you shot him in the chest?" Dean asked him incredulously.

"I was aiming for his heart," the man explains, his face grief stricken.

"You missed," Jack scoffed at him.

"Man, is he still breathing?" Hurley yelled from outside. For a small moment, Dean was almost amused by the fact that Hurley was so freaked out by blood that he was outside, away from the action, asking for a play by play.

"You perforated his lung," Jack finally said up to them. "It'll take hours to bleed out."

"Oh god," Dean muttered, feeling an all new pity for the Marshall. Not only would his suffering increase with this wound, but he now had no chance of getting any answers from the Marshall. Dean watched as the man with the gun's face managed to go from grief stricken to ashamed within seconds as he shook his head sadly. "I…only had one bullet…"

"Get out," Jack interrupted him, not even sparing him a glance. Dean could hardly blame him as the man stayed frozen in his spot, his face twisted as he looked like he was arguing internally. "GET OUT!" Jack yelled this time, causing Dean to flinch and the man to finally snap out of his daze and leave.

"You can't let him suffer through this," Dean told Jack. "The infection was one thing, but now he's choking on his own blood."

"What am I supposed to do?" Jack pleaded, looking up at Dean. Dean looked around the tent, his eyes taking inventory of everything they'd managed to salvage from the wreckage before landing on a few of the airline pillows. He walked over and picked the fluffiest one up and handed it over to Jack with a grim expression. "Make it as quick and painless as possible," he explained before turning around and leaving him alone.

As he exited the tent, Dean could see the man from before throwing a cigarette in anger before turning in his direction. "What are you staring at, Semper Fi?"

Dean almost chuckled at the nickname, before forcing it down, knowing that the guy had to be pretty torn up at the moment. "Hey, look, don't beat yourself up over this. Your intentions were in the right place," he said as he walked past him and patted his shoulder.

He stopped a few feet from him, throwing a glance back over his shoulder. "It's just a shame your aim wasn't."

**Author's Note: How awesome that I finally got this chapter done, even with all the crap that's gone on during the end of this year. I actually have most of chapter five already written, so the next update shouldn't take as long. Show me song love…please, and review! Again, thank you to everyone for being so patient…you guys rock the casbah!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

Dean stared out across the dark beach at the now empty fuselage, crossing his arms across his chest. _All of those bodies in there and any one of them could have been possessed by the demon, _he thought. _If that bastard is even on the island. _Dean rubbed a tired hand over his stubbly face as Kate and Sayid each took a seat on either side of him. He shifted his focus in front of him, where they were watching as Jack cleaned a wound on Charlie's stomach.

Half an hour earlier, the entire camp had been awoken by strange noises coming from the fuselage. His hunter mind had immediately jumped to possession, what with the several dead bodies still in there. He had been relieved that the noises had been nothing more than a boar scavenging for food. Unfortunately, Charlie had been right in the boar's line of sight as it charged out at them.

"Those boars were looking to feed," Jack informed all of them, his gaze remaining on Charlie's wound as he spoke.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Dean muttered, his mood souring more and more as the minutes ticked away.

Jack looked up at him, a grim smile on his features before letting out a deep sigh. "We have to get rid of the bodies."

"Again, no shit," Dean snorted, dropping his hand against his side. "Actually, I'm kinda disappointed that it's taken us this long to even bring the subject up. Scavenging animals aside, the smell, alone, is getting almost unbearable."

"Bury them?" Charlie piped up incredulously, wincing as the antiseptic touched down on his broken skin. "There's a whole bunch in there."

"More than twenty," Sayid deduced. "Digging would be difficult without shovels."

* * *

_Dean sat back against an old oak tree, watching closely as his dad finished stacking wood around the body of Carl Hamlin, a local hunter that had been helping John out during a particularly difficult hunt. His dad hadn't given him much by way of an explanation, but he could only guess that somewhere in between them identifying the spirit they were after and burning the remains, Carl had gotten reckless. Now, his body was the only remainder of him, lying on the half finished Pyre._

_It should have been him helping out his father… then nobody would have died. But, John still wasn't convinced that he was ready for his first hunt. It was coming soon, of that Dean was sure, but he didn't know how soon. He had been training and learning for as long as he could remember and had spent the last several years putting his knowledge to good use by making sure to keep Sammy safe. Maybe John was still punishing him for his poor judgement regarding that Shtriga several years back._

"_Dad, why don't we just bury him?" Sam asked, his small voice breaking the silence._

_Dean snorted at the question, already knowing the answer. Sam would have plenty of time to learn and hone his skills. In the meantime, their father would humor him._

_John stacked the last of the wood and went to retrieve the two containers that housed his salt and gasoline before looking back at his youngest son. "Because, Sammy, leaving behind a body invites possession or for their spirit to stay tied to this world," John explained as he poured the contents of both containers on the body. "We burn him to honor his memory as a hunter," he finished, striking the match and throwing it on the Pyre._

* * *

"Which is why we won't be burying them," Dean spoke up. "We'll need to burn them."

"I agree completely," Jack said, ignoring the looks of disgusted shock that Sayid and Kate were giving him.

"They're people," Kate scoffed, hoping to reason with the two of them.

"No, four days ago they were people," Dean told her, trying to keep the annoyance out of his tone as much as he could. If THE demon was on this island, then he refused to allow a number of dead bodies to lie around waiting to be possessed. "Look, I hate to be the one of this group that states the obvious and therefore automatically becomes the bad guy, but in that fuselage? Those are just corpses now."

"Exactly," Jack said, pointing over at Dean.

"But burning the remains? They deserve better than that," Sayid remarked.

"Better than what? Being eaten by wild animals? Because that's what's gonna happen. Any bodies we bury are not gonna stay buried for very long," Jack reasoned. At the looks he was still getting he let out a deep sigh. "Look, I know this seems harsh, but that fuselage in the sun… It's not about what they deserve. They're gone and…we're not."

"Also, we'll be contaminating our camp if we bury a bunch of decomposing meatsuits," Dean added.

"Nice," Kate told him, shaking her head in disgust.

"What you say may be true," Sayid agreed. "But, for us to decide how these people are laid to rest, it's not right. No regard for their wishes? Their religions?"

"I was kinda wondering how long it would take for the religion card to come up," Dean muttered as he rolled his eyes.

"We don't have time to sort out everybody's god," Jack argued.

"Really? Last I heard we were positively made of time," Charlie interjected.

"Look, I'm not happy about it either, but we crashed a thousand miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place. It's been four days...no one's come. Tomorrow morning we need everyone to start gathering up wood…dried brush. We're gonna turn that fuselage into a furnace." Jack placed a bandage on Charlie's stomach before getting up from his seat. "Wait until the sun goes down tomorrow night before we set the fire."

Dean watched as Jack nodded his head regarding his plan before walking away from them. The silence remained for seconds before Charlie turned to the three of them, his face scrunched in bewilderment. "If he's so eager to burn the bodies, why are we waiting until sundown?" Charlie asked.

"He's hoping someone will see it," Kate answered, a grim expression covering her face.

"It's not a bad idea, actually," Dean chimed in. "We get rid of our corpse problem and manage to build a huge ass signal fire." He watched as Kate turned narrowed eyes on him while Sayid just shook his head. "What, would it be better if we wait until the pirate passes out and then burn the rum?"

* * *

The sun rose on a somber morning as Libby informed the other survivors that Donald hadn't survived the night, as his infection had become lethal without any antibiotics.

_That puts us at four deaths so far, not to mention the bodies that we brought in from the ocean_, Sam thought as he watched Goodwin dig in the area they had allotted to the dead. He shook his head, trying to loosen the knot in his throat at the sight of a grave being dug. Something about burying the dead passenger's bodies made him feel uneasy.

"_Dad, why don't we just bury him?" _That had been the first time he'd ever seen a dead body that he could remember. He had been so young when that hunter had been killed, but he mostly remembered the anger coming from Dean on that day. He couldn't remember the reason, though.

"_Because leaving behind a body invites possession or for their spirit to stay tied to this world. We burn him to honor his memory as a hunter."_

Sam didn't consider himself to be a stupid person. He knew he hadn't lucked into law school or his high test scores. He even enjoyed it when Dean let him handle the research alone. He also knew that, despite the dreams he'd had before Jessica's death, he had never been one for hallucinations. Growing up, Dean may have been the brawn and the willing soldier, but he knew his father had always been impressed that Sam could suffer a concussion, from one hunt or another, and still manage to keep his head screwed on tightly.

He knew what he had seen on that plane and it had definitely not been a hallucination. The demon they had been hunting their entire lives had smiled at him, almost in a taunting manner. _Was that thing the reason for the plane crash? _Sam shook that thought out of his head…it didn't matter now. What did matter was that he was positive that it was on this island somewhere. And without any ceilings around for it to pin a young woman to, slash her stomach open and then burn her alive, it had plenty of time to strategize.

_Leaving behind a body invites possession._

Sam groaned as his father's voice repeated the information he'd learned as a child. How could he be so careless? Here he was, panicked, that the thing his family had been hunting their entire lives was on the same island as them, when he should have been worried about how it would be able to travel around and wreak havoc. He glanced back over at the graves that were already filled, the knot in his throat moving to his stomach as he realized that it was practically a buffet of meatsuits.

He turned away from the graves and scanned through the people on the beach. He knew that, in the past few days, the man he was searching for hadn't spoken a word to anyone, not since he'd killed those two people in self defense a few nights back. John Winchester had always remarked that his youngest son was a stickler for remembering the smallest detail and he had clearly remembered seeing that man's collar on the plane, during the flight.

"There you are," he murmured to himself as he caught sight of the person he was searching for. He watched him for a moment, noticing that he was sitting as far away from everyone else as he could without it bringing up anyone's attention that he was missing. "It's now or never, Sam," he pep talked himself as he ambled towards him. He wasn't surprised as he got no recognition the closer he got, just a nonchalant overlook.

"Hey," Sam said. He watched as the man in front of him let out an aggravated sigh before setting a thick stick down and turning towards him, his eyebrows raised in question. "Uh…I'm Sam," he told him, pointing at his chest. The man nodded his head at him in acknowledgment and waited a few moments for any more information that might follow. When Sam remained quiet, he picked his stick back up and resumed carving into the wood.

Sam nodded with a grin at the silent brush-off, trying to keep himself calm as he took a seat next to him. For his plan to work, he would need this man's help, so he waited until the man looked over at him again before speaking. "Look, I'm not asking you to break your vow of silence, but I sorta need your help."

The smile on Sam's face grew as the man's eyes widened in shock. He turned back out towards the water, watching it for a while before nodding at Sam to continue. "Roman Catholic, right?"

The man nodded his head as he handed the large carved stick to Sam who gingerly took it and looked down at it. Almost immediately, he recognized several of the scripture numbers that Pastor Jim had made him recite as a kid. "Matthew 17:18," Sam told him.

The man's eyebrows rose as a small grin flitted across his features. "And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour," the man spoke, his voice hoarse from disuse, but still distinctive with a Nigerian accent. "My name is Eko."

Sam smiled at him with a nod, thankful that he had managed to get some footing with him. "Eko, it's nice to meet you," Sam spoke honestly. "Look, I realize that this sounds a bit crazy, but I need your help. Have you ever heard of demonic essences?"

* * *

Dean let out a shuddering breath as he dropped his load of firewood into the pile next to the fuselage. He stretched up with a wince, biting back the curse on his tongue as he felt his lower back begin to tighten up. There had been a time, pretty recently, when he had been able enough to dig up a grave, in record time, and still have the energy to participate in a long night of activities with whatever local talent he managed to charm into his hotel room. Lately, it seemed like his muscles were working against him. He nodded as Jack walked up after him and emptied his arms of the firewood he'd managed to gather onto Dean's pile. "You know, when I suggested us burning the bodies instead of burying them, I mostly thought we'd be taking the easy way out of having to dig."

Jack chuckled at Dean's statement as he wiped away at the sweat forming along his hairline. "I'll be honest, I'm pretty relieved that someone suggested it before I did. Guess I should be thanking you," he said, nodding behind Dean to the fuselage.

Dean shrugged off his thanks as he waved nonchalantly at the remnants behind him. "No worries, man. One way or another, these bodies were getting cremated," Dean explained to him.

"Yeah, but still…" Jack began, trailing off as they both heard the far off sound of Hurley's raised voice.

"Is that Hurley?" Dean asked, sharing a look of disbelief with Jack. They both took off as another voice joined in on the arguing, one that Dean didn't recognize at all.

"Who the hell is he arguing with?" Dean asked, taking note of how Jack's jaw had clenched when they heard the second person. Rather than an answer, Jack shook his head and sped up. They both cleared a bend of trees and stopped at the group of people all standing around and watching as a blonde haired guy played keep away with Hurley.

"Sawyer," Jack hissed. Dean shrugged at the name, not remembering meeting anyone named Sawyer since the crash. He rolled his eyes as Boone stepped forward, half heartedly attempting to play mediator between the argument.

"Stay out of this, Metro," Sawyer barked at Boone, turning so that Dean got a full view of him. He immediately recognized him from the night before as the guilt-ridden guy that had shot the Marshall. So, this was Sawyer. Dean chuckled as Boone's face fell and he stepped back from them as he and Jack raced forward and separated them.

Dean held onto Hurley, pushing him away from Sawyer as Jack stood in the middle and held up his hands to keep them apart. "What's going on?" Jack asked, lowering his arms in exasperation.

"He's holding the rest of the peanuts," Hurley shouted, pointing his finger at Sawyer.

"My own stash," Sawyer snapped back. "I found it in there."

Dean groaned as he rolled his eyes. Were they being serious? They had all just survived a horrific plane crash. His brother was missing somewhere on this island, possibly with the demon that had been plaguing his family since 1983, and they were worried about peanuts? "What about the rest of the food?" Jack asked.

"There is no rest of the food, dude," Hurley said. "We kinda…ate it all."

"What?" Dean heard Shannon exclaim as more murmurs rose up around the group of assembled people. He couldn't help but roll his eyes as they all began panicking together. _Well, at least these people can collectively bitch. _

"Ok, everybody, just calm down," Jack began, holding up his hands in a placating manner.

"We can find food," Sayid interrupted him, coming forward. "There are plenty of things on this island we can use for sustenance."

Sawyer scoffed at Sayid as he headed over to a pair of the airline seats they'd salvaged from the fuselage. "And exactly how are we gonna find this sustenance?" he asked, dropping down into one of the seats, not even giving them his full attention. Before he had even settled in, a knife embedded itself in the headrest next to him, making him jump and stare in shock at the offending weapon. A few gasps rose up in the crowd as everyone followed the knife's trajectory back to a smirking Locke.

"We hunt."

Dean watched in amusement as Sawyer tore his gaze away from the knife and settled his attention where everyone else was staring. He chuckled deep as he walked towards Sawyer, shrugged his shoulders at him and then pulled the knife out of the chair, throwing it up and catching it with an impressed whistle before handing it back to Locke.

"How'd you get that knife on the plane?" Kate asked.

"Checked it." He shrugged.

"You either have very good aim or very bad aim, Mr…" Jack began.

"His name's John Locke," Dean told him with a nod as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Ok, Mr. Locke. What is it that we're hunting?" Jack asked.

"How about the little critters that woke us all up last night?" Dean suggested, eyeing the knife he'd handed back to Locke.

"Great idea, Dean," Locke pointed the knife in Dean's direction with a smile. "We know there are wild boar on the island…razorbacks by the look of them. The ones that came into the camp last night were piglets…a hundred, hundred fifty pound s each, which means that there's a mother nearby. A two hundred and fifty pound rat with scimitar like tusks and a surly disposition, who'd love nothing more than to eviscerate anything that comes near her. Boar's usual mode of attack is to circle around and charge from behind so I figure it'll take at least three of us to distract her long enough for me to flank one of the piglets, pin it, and slit its throat."

"And you gave him his knife back?" Sawyer asked with a sarcastic smile to match his tone.

Jack threw a confident look over his shoulder with a smirk. "Well, if you've got a better idea…" he asked.

"Better than three of you wandering into the magic forest to bag a hunk of ham with nothing but a little bitty hunting knife? Hell no…best idea I ever heard," Sawyer added.

Dean pursed his lips at Sawyer's comment. That actually made a lot of sense. They'd been on the island for five days and it was his lack of weapons that was keeping him on the beach rather than searching for more of the wreckage and Sam.

He watched Jack nod his head, grudgingly conceding to that point as Locke just grinned wider and moved to the side. He lifted his foot onto the edge of a metal case and opened it up to reveal six extra hunting knives nestled in a custom holder.

"Merry Christmas, Dean," he murmured to himself suddenly feeling giddy. "Dibs on the third from the left."

* * *

"Let me see if I understand what you're saying," Ana Lucia said. "You want us to dig up the bodies that we've already, painstakingly, buried so that you can burn them instead?"

Sam gazed out into the distance and scrunched up his face so it looked like he was thinking about her question before nodding. "Yes."

Ana Lucia shot Sam a crazy look before shaking her head in disbelief. "Ok, I'll bite. Any particular reason why?"

Sam knew he had lucked out, not only with Eko being a priest, but with him having a pretty good knowledge of demonic possessions. He also knew that Ana Lucia would be a completely different story and, most likely, would only respond to logic. Hunter's logic didn't count.

"Is it too much for you to just trust me?" He asked with a shrug as he played up the right amount of nonchalance and innocence that Dean had spent his entire life teasing him about, while secretly envying it. She only stared at him, waiting for the explanation she was asking for.

Sam rolled his eyes, as he resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Great, he finally met the person that was impervious to his kicked puppy act, and he was stuck on a deserted island with them. "Ok, if you can't trust me outright, I'd hope that, by now, you could trust me regarding survival tactics," he held out his hands and motioned around them, silently reminding her of what he'd done for their group so far. She nodded her head at him, reluctantly and with a deep sigh.

"Donald died, just this morning, from an infection that could have been prevented with antibiotics. What happens when the germs from all of those dead bodies manages to seep back into our camp and gets someone sick? We'd have nothing to fight them and they'd just spread to every person." He asked.

"Sam, that's a reach," Ana Lucia told him around a tense sigh. "You don't know that's gonna happen."

"Yeah, you're right," Sam agreed with her. "I also didn't know that the plane I voluntarily stepped on would crash, but it did. Best luck in the world? None of us ever gets sick because the shallow graves we put the bodies in get dug up by some wild animal looking for food." He watched as her right eye twitched in recognition, but her features stayed reluctant. "Survival is weeding out every worst case scenario and nipping it in the bud before it can happen. That's all I'm trying to do, here, ok?"

Ana Lucia let out a deep breath and shook her head up at him. "Let's say, hypothetically, that I were to agree with you on this," she told him.

"Yeah, sure. Hyphothetically," Sam agreed with a nod.

"Answer me this, how do you plan on getting everyone else on board? There are people, here, that will go against this for religion purposes alone."

"That is where I can help," she heard an accented voice from behind Sam. Sam moved to the side to reveal the man that had remained silent for the last several days leaning on a large carved stick.

"He's talking now?" Ana Lucia asked Sam.

"My name is Eko and I am a Catholic priest," he informed her, ignoring her question to Sam. "It would be my honor to bless each body before they are cremated," he told her.

"What about the bodies that weren't Catholic?" Ana Lucia asked.

"We risk it," Sam told her. "It's lucky that we have a catholic priest willing to bless the bodies, but none of us are in the position to start placing requests on how the dead are put to rest. We have to start thinking about the rest of us that have survived thus far."

* * *

Dean palmed the knife Locke had handed him, moving it back and forth a few times so he could get a proper feel for it. It wasn't his large hunting knife, in fact, it was nowhere close to his large hunting knife, but he didn't really have any cause for complaint. Something about beggers and choosing.

"So, you're actually joining in on this little hunting trip?" Jack asked from behind him.

Dean smiled wide as he turned around and faced him, nodding his head. "Joining nothing, I'm probably gonna end up leading this little hunting party," Dean told him with a confident smirk. "I do some hunting back home and I'm betting that this is what I'll need to help ease away some of my tension, while at the same time providing food for us all to survive. Two birds," he said, holding up two fingers, his grin widening.

"Plus, you get out of having to gather firewood and leave me to get the fuselage prepped."

Dean lowered his hand, wincing at Jack's statement as he scratched at the back of his head absent mindedly. "Ah…about that…" he began.

Jack laughed out as he dropped his current load of wood before shaking his head. "It's a joke, Dean. By all means, bring back some food so everyone will calm down."

"Also, you'd like me to keep an eye on your girlfriend, right?" Dean asked, smiling wide as Jack looked over at him, squinting his eyes in confusion. Dean rolled his eyes as he pointed over Jack's shoulder, watching as he turned around and saw Kate strapping one of the smaller knives to a holster around her waste.

"Of course she's going," he muttered, not even bidding Dean goodbye as he stomped towards her. Dean let out a deep chuckle as he turned back around and went back to testing the knife.

"You seem to be pretty good with that thing." He heard behind him. Dean nodded his head as Locke came around and stood in front of him, watching his movements with a thin smile. "Then again, you are fighting air at the moment."

Dean shook his head in disbelief as he rolled his eyes before turning his complete attention to Locke. He raised an eyebrow and smirked as he threw the knife into the air and then held his hand out next to his shoulder. His smirk grew into a smile as the knife landed squarely back in his hand, his gaze never leaving Locke. "Trust me, boars are the least scary thing I've hunted in my life."

"Oddly enough, I believe you," Locke told him, matching his smile. "It's a comfort to know that someone knowledgeable will be watching my back."

"Or it could be you watching my back while I hunt," Dean told him.

"Says the guy borrowing my knife," Locke threw at him.

Dean chuckled as he shook his head. "Trust me, it's only temporary until I find my bag."

* * *

Dean trailed behind the hunting party, bringing up the rear. He was all for hunting boar with the rest of them, but he was also on the lookout for other things. Things that could potentially harm any of the survivors. He watched as Locke stopped and squatted at the ground, Kate and Michael watching him in curiosity.

"You find something?" Kate asked.

Locke stood back up, still staring at the dirt in front of them. Dean glanced down at what he was seeing, smiling at the find. Fresh dirt. "The ground, here, has been rooted up. That's how boars get the majority of their food…they dig. Afterwards, they generally wallow in the dirt, rub up against the trees, scoring it with their tusks," he informed them, reaching forward and gingerly touching the imperfections in the tree. Dean was impressed.

"Ok, so, what's all that mean?" Michael asked as he stepped forward to see the part of the tree Locke had been touching.

"Means we're onto them," Dean interjected. "They should be close by."

Locke nodded at Dean with a grin before backing up and continuing forward. Kate and Michael shared a weary look before they moved to follow him. Dean shrugged and trailed behind them, continuing to scout the area for anything unnatural. As he walked, he began to notice the trail Locke was following, almost whistling at how impressed he was. As it was, his concentration was wavering as he tried to block out the conversation that Kate and Michael were having in front of him.

"What were you doing in Australia?" He heard Michael ask Kate. She looked back at him, her eyes wide before turning back around.

"Sssshh," Locke interrupted them as he stopped and held up a hand to silence them. _Saved by the hunter, _Dean thought. He watched, bemused as Kate and Michael stopped their movements and conversation, watching Locke for cues. He almost laughed when they started following Locke closely as he stepped lightly towards a tree where Dean could clearly see the tusk marks. Good eye.

He followed behind the three of them into the taller grass, focusing on the plants around them to see if he could see or hear anything. Nothing so far. He continued his scan until he heard the light growl and stopped dead, his grin shining as he nodded his head at Locke. Locke nodded back at him before he signaled for Kate and Michael to get ready. Kate held out her knife while Michael attached his pack around his waist. Oh, this should be good.

Dean tapped Kate on the shoulder, pointing down where she should go as she nodded her understanding. He watched as Locke signaled for where Michael should go, knowing that none of the information was sinking in. Why'd that guy come again?

"Hey, quit giving me the steal signal," he told him. Dean almost yelled out for him to quiet down as Locke held up his hand to stop him. He let out a frustrated sigh as a loud roaring broke through their semi-silence.

Dean watched as a wild boar burst through the tall grass, heading straight towards them. He grabbed Kate and pulled her with him as they fell back away from the frenzy while Locke dived away. He heard the boar collide with something and prayed that it hadn't been a person.

For a moment, the woods remained quiet before Dean heard the grunting of pain coming from Michael. "Michael's hurt," he whispered, darting up and running to his side. He watched as Kate followed behind him and crouched down on his other side. They both began to inspect him for wounds, Dean stopping as Kate gasped when her hands landed on a patch of blood on the leg of his pants.

Michael hissed out when Kate's hands got too close as he rocked his body to try to dull the pain. "Hey, man, it's ok. We're gonna get you some help," Dean told him, watching as Michael continued to hiss in pain.

"Where's Locke?" Kate asked as she moved her hands away from Michael's leg.

Dean looked up at Kate, his eyes darting around at her question before they settled on Locke lying motionless in the grass. "Locke, you ok?" Dean yelled.

Kate looked up at Dean, her face grim. "It's bad," she said, motioning to his leg.

He nodded at Kate before motioning over her shoulder at Locke, thankful that he could see his chest rising and falling enough to alert him that he was, at least, alive. "Locke…answer me, damnit."

"Dean, he's hurt," Kate told him again, snapping her fingers in his face. Dean nodded at her as he went to gather materials to make a splint.

"Locke?" Kate asked over her shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine…I'm fine," Dean heard Locke mutter, his voice shaky. Dean looked over in his direction as he began to stir and could see that he was spooked. "I'm fine, Helen. I just got the wind knocked outta me, is all," he said, moving to stand.

"Helen?" Kate asked, voicing the same question in Dean's mind as he rejoined Michael at his side.

"Hey, man, I need you to try and stay still while I get this tied up, alright?" Dean asked, ignoring Kate and Locke's conversation as he secured two thick sticks on each side of Michael's leg. He removed a shoelace from his boots and set to work tying the splint as tightly as he could. He finished it off by cutting a length of fabric from Michael's shirt and tying it around the middle where the wound was.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Kate asked, awe clear on her face.

"My father," Dean told her with a shrug. "Just remember that I'm gonna want that shoelace back."

Michael chuckled before wincing at the movement it was causing. "I'll make sure to keep it safe for you, man."

"Which way'd that boar go?" Locke asked, interrupting their conversation.

"Uh-uh," Kate told him. "Michael's hurt. We have to get him back to camp."

"Yeah, you two take him back to camp. I'm gonna get that boar," Locke told her, re-gathering his supplies.

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked, her voice incredulous.

"I'm fine, I can do this," Lock answered her, his eyes darting around their clearing as he looked for the boar's trail.

"Dean?" Kate gazed at him with wide eyes, imploring him to help her to convince Locke to stay with them.

"John, you can't," he yelled up at him. They watched as Locke found the trail and marched off, not even sparing them a glance. The only thing they heard as he left was his assured voice, "don't tell me what I can't do."

"Shit," Dean muttered under his breath as Michael began to moan, again, in pain. "Shit, shit, shit, shit," he hissed as he got up to try and stop Locke.

"What the hell is he trying to do?" Kate asked, panic in her voice.

"There's no telling," Dean muttered, kneeling back down at their level. "Kate, do you think you can get Michael back to camp on your own?"

"I think so," she told him. "Why?"

He stood back up, looking in the direction Locke had disappeared to. "Someone has to make sure he doesn't kill himself."

"Be careful," Kate told him as he gripped his knife.

"Yeah, you too," he said, smiling back at her before darting off towards Locke. He caught up with him almost instantly, speeding up as Locke continued his trek. "Locke, wait up, man."

"Dean, go back to camp. I can do this on my own," he told him, continuing his stride.

"Screw you, Locke. Nobody can tell you what to do but you have authority over me?" Dean spat, stopping behind him. He waited as Locke stopped and turned back to face him, surprised by the smile on his face. "Touche, Dean."

"Whatever. Just tell me where you think this bastard went," Dean hissed before stomping past him. He heard Locke run to catch up with him and fall into step beside him.

"Are you ok?" Locke asked.

"Am I ok?" Dean shot back at him. "This from the guy that has something so huge to prove that he leaves behind the people in his hunting party, one, I might add, which is injured?" Dean shook his head incredulously before shrugging. "Nah, just didn't realize that the hunt for food couldn't wait an hour until we made sure Michael was safe."

"Kate's with him," Locke argued back. "And so were you when I told you two to bring him back."

Dean stopped his trek, turning on Locke and pointing a finger at him. "First off, you don't get to tell me or anyone what to do. This was supposed to be a team effort, and despite that it's your tools we're using, if that's the provision for you to be leader, I'll kill this damn thing with my hands," Dean hissed at him. "Secondly, there's no way in hell that I'm leaving you to wander around this island by yourself."

John nodded his head while he contemplated Dean's words, a smugly calm smile stretched across his face, further infuriating Dean. Dean rolled his eyes as he turned back around and trekked through the tall grass, listening for any noises that would indicate a boar nearby. The sooner they bagged some food, the sooner he could get Locke back to camp without having to knock him out and drag him back. He stopped suddenly, holding up his hand for Locke to stop. "Do you hear that?"

It was close, maybe around the next patch of trees. "Sounds like pig squealing to me," Locke whispered to him.

"Ugh…Deliverance much?" Dean asked with a grimace. "Alright, look. You go in on the right and I'll take the left," Dean told him. "If it comes at either of us, just slice and dice, got it?"

Locke nodded his head as Dean tiptoed to the left of the open field, his eyes focused on the boar that he could just barely see. He picked up his pace, ready to surprise their prey when he heard it. The same noises they'd heard that first night on the beach. The same noises that were keeping him from searching every inch of this island for his brother. The same noises that had preceded a trail of tree being bent like they were nothing. Dean looked over at Locke from across the field, seeing the same fear that had to be reflected on his face as he heard it too.

"Locke, we have to get out of here," Dean shouted as he slowly backed away. He could hear the sound getting closer as Locke stood frozen in his spot. His heart hammered in his chest as he continued backing up, willing Locke to move before he darted behind a cover of trees. He wanted nothing more than to know what kind of thing could make that sort of noise and knock over trees, but with only a borrowed knife he knew he had no chance if it ended up being something dangerous.

He kept himself crouched behind the trees as he continued to back up, staying as low as possible. He waited a few moments, listening as the sound seemed to stay in one direction before he turned and darted away. For all he knew, Locke was still standing frozen in that field, but there was nothing he could have done other than tell him to run.

"No," Dean hissed coming to a stop. His dad hadn't raised him to leave behind someone because he was scared. And he was, never in his life had he heard a noise like that or seen trees being knocked over by anything except a machine. He turned around and took a deep breath, willing himself to go back and help Locke. That's when he saw it. She stood before him, no more than twenty feet away, dressed in the same white nightgown she had been wearing the night she'd died while her sad eyes stared him down.

"Mom?" Dean asked as he took a step forward. A sad smile appeared on her face before she turned and ran in the other direction. His face dropped as he took off after her. "Mom, wait!" His voice broke behind a sob as he stumbled into a clearing, his mother nowhere to be seen. "Mom?" He looked around wildly, knowing he had seen her come this way.

His heart jumped as he heard the bushes in front of him rustle. He stepped forward towards the noise, his heart crashing back down into his chest as Locke emerged, covered in blood and dragging a dead boar behind him.

* * *

Sam stood with the rest of the crowd, watching as the last grave was lit ablaze. After Goodwin had dug up the bodies, Sam had taken some time to pour salt water over each one of them, hoping it would be an acceptable equivelant to actually salting the body.

He smiled over at Mr. Eko before turning to Ana Lucia and mouthing his thanks. She nodded her head at him with a smile before watching as he retreated and headed over to the water.

* * *

Dean barely listened to a word Claire was saying as he stared out at the trees that were being illuminated by the massive fire they had lit. He'd spent the entire trek back to camp silent as the dead, his mind working through what he had seen. He knew Locke had attempted to strike up a conversation with him a few times, but he'd been non-responsive. Ever since they had officially returned, he'd been working his hardest to keep his emotions in check, even though it seemed like any second would be his undoing.

He focused, again, on the trees, the only thing keeping him from yelling out at the hallucination from before. That's what he had decided seeing his mother was…a hallucination. His mind's answer to coping with Sammy being lost was to conjure up images of his mother. How screwed up was he?

"Nice work," Michael whispered from his side, startling him out of his musings.

He jumped as he turned towards Michael, willing his heartbeat to settle down. "What?" he asked.

"Nice work," Michael repeated. "You know, with the boar."

Dean nodded at him as he turned back to the fire, shrugging off his thanks. "That was all Locke," he told him. "You should be thanking him."

Dean didn't even wait for his response before he backed up and walked away, deciding that he wasn't doing anyone any good by brooding during their memorial service. He tucked his hands into his jean pockets as he walked up the beach, his mind buzzing as the images of his mother standing before him came rushing back. Her stomach hadn't been cut, so it couldn't have been a ghost.

He stopped his musings as he saw Jack sitting at the edge of the sand, staring out at the ocean. Apparently, he wasn't the only one in no mood to participate in a memorial service. He shrugged as he walked up to his side and took a seat next to him, giving him a nod before staring out at the same ocean. Neither said a word as the fuselage continued to burn behind them.

**Author's Note: I'm getting into some great habits by updating this quickly. Trust me when I say that this is not going to be a one-time thing. My little sister (who is a huge LOSTIE) has become my main critic before I post because I think she knows more about LOST than the creators do. I was so glad when she loved this chapter and I'm hoping everyone on here that reads it will like it as well. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (that's three times people) REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

"No…Sam, no!" Dean shouted as he snapped awake. He winced at the stinging in his head that reminded him of a badass hangover as he rolled his dry tongue around in his mouth with a grimace. The grit of sand crunched between his teeth, making him instantly nauseous. Then again, it could have been the constant stream of nightmares that made sleeping on a sandy beach harder than it should have been.

_I'm pretty much one more sleepless night away from having an alter personality start a chain of fight clubs without me knowing, _he thought as he stood up and stretched his arms over his head. He winced at the audible pop coming from more than one joint, while he waited for his still racing heart to even out with his shallow breaths. The images from his dream filtered back through his mind, forcing him to swallow down the bile burning at his throat from being subjected to them again.

For six whole days it had gone on. The situations were always different, but the outcome was always the same. Sam's lifeless eyes staring up at him. Accusing him.

The first night after the plane crash, thanks to the noises from the jungle, Dean's overactive mind had made falling asleep nearly impossible, but when he finally managed to doze off, he'd been forced to watch as blood gushed out of a wound on Sam's stomach, too fast for him to patch it up. The night after that, he'd staggered to consciousness after watching an invisible force snap Sam's neck like a twig. Last night had been the worst and most vivid as something held him captive and forced him to watch while Sam was beaten over and over again before his body collapsed to the ground, his head blown off from a close range bullet.

Dean let out a deep content breath as his body produced one final pop before a majority of the sand on the beach, that hadn't been in his teeth, made itself known in the other crevices of his body. Maybe it was time for him to put away his hopes of rescue, for an afternoon, and construct some sort of shelter. Sleeping in the sand was irritating enough, but when he coupled that with his nightmare induced insomnia it made his Gilligan's Island fantasies go straight out the window. "Plus, no Ginger," he conceded to himself.

"Help me!"

Dean stopped his movements as he craned his neck, directing all of his senses towards his hearing. He could have sworn he'd just heard someone calling for help, even though it seemed far off. Either that, or his complete lack of sleep was causing him to hallucinate. It better not be a hallucination, what good would he be to anyone if he was ambling around like a zombie?

"Please, help me." There it was again, only a little more muffled. Dean looked up, squinting against the rising sun as he searched the beach for the voice. It was still early, which meant most of their survival party was still sleeping.

"Help…help." It was behind him. He spun around, groaning at the expanse of water he was facing as his narrowed eyes searched through the waves for anything. The sun reflected off of the water so intensely that he almost missed it, but he saw the movement going against the waves. Someone was stuck in the tide and it looked like they were struggling to stay topside.

"Oh shit," he muttered as he sprinted out towards the water, shucking off his flannel and t-shirt as he ran. He threw his clothes behind him as he continued onward, keeping a steady eye on the person out there. He knew because of how early it was that the beach would stay deserted for a little while longer, so it would be up to him to save the person out there. By himself. Exhausted.

"Damnit."

He slowed to a stop near the edge of the water, thanking his lucky stars as Charlie stumbled towards him. "Charlie!" He yelled as he toed off his shoes and socks. Charlie looked up at him, his glossy eyes settling on him as a goofy smile covered his face. He looked drunk. Or stoned. "Dude are you…"

"Dean! My man…how are you?" Charlie asked.

His lazy grin grew as he stumbled in place before righting himself and giving Dean a reassuring nod. Dean took a breath, ready to voice his suspicions when he heard the person in the water yelling for help again. "Charlie, look, there's someone in trouble out there. I need you to go get help," Dean told him, pointing out at the water. Charlie followed Dean's pointed finger, the smile on his face disappearing as Dean took off. He didn't even look back to see if Charlie was getting help, he just continued running until the water was at his calves before he dove in.

His arms cut through the water as he headed in the direction that he'd seen the person struggling. It had been years since he'd even had the need to swim and this activity combined with his exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on his body, but he could still hear the person struggling as his face emerged every few strokes to take a gaping breath as he powered forward.

His body was hurting as he closed the distance to the spot where he'd seen the person struggling, but there was nothing but empty water. "It was right here. I know it was." He spun around in the water, momentarily wondering if the tide could have carried them farther away. Nothing.

"If they're not up here, then that means…" Dean groaned out loud before he took a deep breath and dove under the water, trying to ignore the saltwater as it stung his eyes. He searched for as long as his lungs would allow before they began to ache, forcing him to break back above the surface.

"DAMNIT!" He took in another deep breath and dove back underwater. The last time he had been in an ocean had been almost ten years ago in the Gulf of Mexico, during a break after a solo hunt. He remembered that the water had been so murky that he hadn't even been able to see his feet with the water at his knees which had lead to him not seeing the small jellyfish that swam right up and stung him. This water, however, was clear and even with that on his side, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

He could feel the familiar ache in his lungs and was ready to give up and chalk the whole event up to a bad hallucination when he finally saw him. Boone. He was floating dangerously closer to the bottom of the ocean than the surface. _I could have sworn it was a woman I heard yelling for help. _

Dean pushed down the pain in his lungs as he swam further down to the ocean floor. He quickly wrapped his arms around Boone, worried as Boone's head remained tipped forward even as he kicked hard towards the surface. There were spots dancing in front of his eyes as they finally resurfaced and sucked in as much air as he could before the current dragged them back under.

"Holy shit," he shouted as they came back up. He kicked hard as he readjusted his grip on Boone, warily noticing how far away the beach was from them. _A little early to begin celebrating_, he thought knowing swimming there by himself, this exhausted, would be hard enough. With Boone, who was little more than dead weight, it would be nearly impossible.

"Boone?" Dean gasped. He waited for a response before patting his cheek, praying that he'd be able to get some kind of response. He could feel him weakly pull his head away from Dean's hand as he heard him begin to hack and cough. Well, that was good, hacking and coughing meant breathing, right? "Take it easy man, you don't wanna make yourself sick," Dean told him, kicking harder to keep them afloat. He swallowed a bit of saltwater and coughed it back up with a grimace before starting the trek back to the beach. "I might need your help getting back," Dean told Boone. Either way, at least he could take it easy and slow on the way back.

"Did you get her?" Boone's weak voice interrupted his concentration.

"What?"

"There was a woman," Boone pointed back out at the water. "I was trying…did you get her?"

Dean swore under his breath as he readjusted his grip on Boone to look over his shoulder. He struggled with the task but finally managed to make out a woman flailing and fighting against the currents, too far away from them for him to figure out who she was.

He contemplated whether or not he'd be able to swim himself and Boone over to her and then get them all safely back to the beach, but he knew it was fruitless. Not even on his cockiest day could he manage something like that.

"We gotta go back," Boone murmured as Dean continued towards the beach.

"I gotta get you to the beach first," Dean told him.

"No," Boone argued without putting up a fight. "Leave me and go get her."

"Sure thing, man, I'll just leave you here to drown while I go save her," Dean huffed as he gritted his teeth in irritation. He thanked lady luck when his feet touched down on the rigid sand of the ocean floor, taking the pressure of him and Boone off of his arms.

"Dean, we got him," he heard as someone shouldered Boone away from him so quickly that he lost his balance and pitched forward. "Easy there," the same voice grunted. He looked to his side to see Kate smiling over at him as she took on the brunt of most of his weight. "You ok there, hero?"

"So damn tired," he muttered back. He looked up to see that most of the camp was finally awake and watching the scene before them. Almost immediately he pushed the exhaustion away as he remembered the other person out there. He shrugged out of Kate's grasp and stumbled back out into the deeper water.

"Dean, no. You're exhausted." Kate said, pulling him back.

"There's still someone out there," he growled, shrugging off her hand.

"Jack went after her," Kate told him. She gave him a reassuring smile as he turned a questioning gaze on her. "Look, we'll help him get her in, but you need to go sit down."

"I'm fine," he told her, turning back towards the open water. He could see Jack out in the distance as he swam slowly in their direction, balancing an unconscious woman on his back. "How long has he been out there?"

He heard Kate let out a deep sigh before stepping up to his side. "Charlie came running up the beach shouting about someone drowning and that you were headed after them. We went out to help you when we saw the other person," she explained to him. "I'm surprised you didn't see Jack swim right past you."

"I was kinda busy saving Captain America," Dean told her as he rolled his neck. His body hurt and his head was buzzing, but Jack was almost to them. "Any idea who he's got?"

"Not a clue," she told him. "Dean, I'm not trying to bug you, but I really think you need to sit down. You've done enough," Kate said as Jack got closer to them.

"Plenty of time to rest when I'm dead," he answered her. He gave her a nod when he thought Jack was close enough as they both ran out to meet him. Dean eased the woman he was carrying off of Jack's back with a grunt, giving a grateful smile to Kate as she helped with the bulk of her weight.

"We got her, Jack," Kate told him. Jack turned around and helped them carry her the rest of the way out of the water and far enough away before they eased her onto the sand.

Dean watched as Jack knelt down and placed two fingers on her neck. "Is she alive?" Kate asked.

"Barely. Are either of you CPR certified?" he asked as he tilted her head back. Dean didn't even answer and he scrambled to a sitting position next to her chest and placed both hands over where her heart would be. He looked up at Jack and nodded while Jack nodded back before pinching her nose and breathing deeply into her mouth. He watched as Jack shot up before starting the chest compressions, counting out each time like his father had taught him.

Nothing.

Jack plugged her nose again and blew deeply into her mouth before giving Dean the same nod to start again. He began the compressions, grunting as the exertion started to finally take its toll. "Come on, damnit."

He was almost completely done counting down the compressions when she stirred slightly before coughing violently enough for water to shoot out of her mouth.

Dean smiled over at Jack as he rolled her, gently, onto her side and rubbed her back soothingly as she wheezed in and out in an effort to replace the water from her lungs with air.

* * *

_No consistent sleep for six days, an exhausting rescue, CPR and rather than resting all this off, I'm stuck playing babysitter_," Dean thought as he handed over another item for Jack to identify and catalogue. Jack stared out blankly as he muttered what it could be used for before setting it down with the other items. _Fricken Kate, if she's so concerned why can't she keep an eye on him?_

"Ok, what's going on?" Dean asked, finally getting fed up.

Jack continued to stare out in front of him until Dean smacked him on the arm, knocking him out of his daze. He blinked his eyes a few times before grimacing down at Dean. "Ow, what?"

"Dude, what's with you? Are you planning on being mopey for the rest of the day or is this gonna last until we get rescued?"

"I'm not being mopey," Jack defended himself as he snatched up one of the blankets they'd found out of Dean's hands. "I just have a lot on my mind, alright?"

"Dude, I completely understand, especially given the circumstances," Dean assured him, motioning around at the wreckage and people milling around. "But, Jack, you and I saved two people today. Saving two people isn't a reason to be beating yourself up, if you ask me."

"Yeah, well…I didn't ask you," Jack snapped as he threw down a blanket.

Dean let out an irritated chuckle as he held up his hands in surrender. He knew the only other people that ever spoke to him in that tone and got away with it were Sam and his father. Why the hell was he putting up with this shit?

"Hey, guys…" Hurley called, as Dean turned to leave. Dean stopped in front of him with a huff while Jack turned at the sound of his voice. Hurley came to a full halt when he noticed both men giving him their full attention. He nodded at Dean with a smile before turning to Jack and scrutinizing him. "Whoa, you look tired, brother."

"Oh, that's not tired, Hurley. He just has a lot on his mind," Dean informed him in a sarcastic tone, earning an annoyed glare from Jack.

"I'm fine," he told both of them around an agitated sigh. "What's up?"

"We got a problem," Hurley said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. He turned and motioned for them to follow him as he led them back across the beach where Charlie was sitting rigidly with a red suitcase next to him. As they got closer to Charlie, Dean could see that the case was filled with water bottles, none of them completely full. They stopped and looked down, Dean shaking his head in disbelief as he realized, in horror, that this was the last of their water. "Oh god, please don't tell me that's it."

"That's it," Charlie confirmed with a shrug.

"How many?" Jack asked.

"Eighteen," Charlie told him. Dean and Jack shook their heads before sharing a worried look.

"People just took what they needed, cuz we were supposed to be rescued," Hurley explained to them impishly. "But, uh…we weren't."

"Well, at least I've been updated that we haven't been rescued yet," Dean muttered as he rubbed his stubbly face.

"Even if we divied it up…split the bottles in half, it wouldn't be enough for forty seven people," Charlie surmised.

"If people find out this is all we have left, they're gonna freak out, man," Hurley told Jack. Dean watched as panic settled over Jack's face for only a second before it disappeared. What was wrong with him, today?

"The boar's running low until we can catch another one," Charlie added in. Dean almost snorted. Until WE could catch another one? That damn hunt had almost cost him his sanity and Charlie was brushing it off as if they could pick up more at the corner market behind the infirmiry tent. "What should we tell them?" Charlie asked, nodding towards the survivors.

"I don't know," Jack answered, his tone sounding completely defeated.

"Maybe we can make one of those water finding sticks," Hurley suggested.

"That's just renaissance magic, man," Dean informed him. "You'd get the same results by praying to god for some water."

"Where should we put what we've got?" Charlie asked Jack, ignoring Dean's information.

"I don't know," Jack repeated, his tone more firm than before. He gave Dean one last pleading look before turning and walking away. Ok, something was definitely bugging him. He watched as Charlie closed the red suitcase and ran after him, Hurley right behind him on his heels.

"I guess somebody has to make sure two rescues don't get cancelled out by Jack killing those two," Dean muttered before hurrying after them.

"We should put it in the tent, yeah?" Charlie asked after Jack.

"Maybe the dog can find water," Hurley suggested as Charlie got no response. Still Jack continued walking, his back growing more and more stiff as they continued after him.

"Probably better if no one knows how little is left," Charlie called out to Jack.

"I mean, dogs can find pot and bombs, so I'm sure they can find water," Hurley concluded. Jack shook his head as he continued to the pile of items they'd been sorting before Hurley came and got them. Charlie and Hurley entered behind him, still talking as Charlie placed the red case down on one of the makeshift tables.

"If you tell the others we're running low, we can ration it. That way you can decide who gets…" Charlie continued.

Dean knew it was coming before it actually happened. Jack's jaw was twitching, his face was red and his hands were tightened into fists as he spun around. "I'm not deciding anything," he exploded. Hurley and Charlie's faces fell at Jack's tone, both looking like they'd been caught sneaking cookies by their mother.

"Why not?" Hurley asked timidly.

"Damnit, man...he's a doctor not a decision maker," Dean broke the silence. None of them grinned or smiled as they all turned their heads in his direction. He gave them a sheepish shrug before clearing his throat. "It was getting a little too serious in here."

Jack's face softened a bit as he turned his attention out to the water. Dean could only assume that he felt bad for snapping at two of the nicest guys on the beach like that, but they'd even been bugging him. He watched as Jack backed out of the tent and headed out to the water before letting out a deep breath of air.

"What's his deal?" Charlie asked as they watched him walk farther and farther away from them.

Dean wanted to snap at them also, but he knew they meant no harm. They saw a problem and wanted to help fix it with the interim camp leader, even if Jack didn't want the responsibility. "Try not to take it personally, guys…I guess it's been a pretty weird day for everyone."

Dean patted them both on the arms before walking past them and picking up a few of the items he and Jack had been cataloguing. "Look, give Jack a little bit of time to himself, alright?" He headed away from them, intent on finding a good spot on the beach to set up a shelter until some form of rescue came for them.

If he HAD to stay on this island for one more day, subjected to the worst kind of dreams imaginable, then he'd at least be semi comfortable. And, for someone that had spent the better part of their life in and out of slummed out motel rooms, he'd settle for a little less sand gritting into his body when he was startled awake.

* * *

Dean tied down the last corner of the tarp he'd pilfered before standing back up and examining his work. He'd managed to find a good spot far enough away so that the tide wouldn't hit him and there was a tree with fruit growing on it right outside the open part of his tent. "It's about time I ran into some luck," Dean murmured with a satisfied nod.

"Why didn't you leave me?" Dean heard behind him.

"And, I spoke too soon," Dean hissed as he bent down to retie a loose knot on his shelter. After the dramatic rescue from that morning and the melodrama coming from Jack, there was no way in hell that he would be indulging anymore people in their crap today.

"Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Hey, I'll alert the media," Dean threw over his shoulder. He tugged on the new knot a few times before nodding as it held firm. When it rained again, he'd be dry and wouldn't have to worry about everything tumbling down around him.

"I coulda made it back."

"You gotta be fricken kidding me," Dean groaned as he turned to face Boone. He was surprised by the anger on his face, considering this guy kinda owed him his life. "You're pissed because you think you coulda made it back to shore? Is that what you're saying?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Boone told him, standing his ground.

"Then explain to me how you planned to do that when you couldn't even stay above the water," Dean requested. He waited as the anger faded from Boone's face and was replaced with humiliation for only a split second. That split second was enough for Dean as he gave him a knowing smile and patted his shoulder, patronizingly, before walking past him to get more supplies.

"You think you're all heroic and noble coming after me?" Boone yelled, his voice following behind him. _Damn it to hell, is he following me now? _Dean thought, throwing a malicious glance at the sky. He didn't even have to look behind him to confirm that he was being followed as Boone continued to rant at him, his voice remaining an even pace behind him. _What, exactly, did I do to deserve this shit?_ "I was fine. You and Jack aren't the only ones around here that know what to do. I run a business…"

"Yeah?" Dean laughed. "And if I need help with my 401K before rescue gets here, I'll know who to come see," Dean threw over his shoulder, not even stopping his stride.

"Who the hell appointed you our damn savior?" Boone yelled, his tone becoming more and more irrational and shrill. "What gives you the right to…"

Dean blocked Boone out the best he could as he continued his rant. Honestly, he missed the good old days when he saved someone's life and they…didn't even know it had been him. It still beat getting yelled at like he'd been the one to plop him in the middle of the ocean with a twenty pound weight strapped to his ankles.

He stopped walking as the remainder of his patience faded. Even blocking out Boone's words, he could still hear him yelling at him, which pissed him off. He balled up his fists at his sides, ready to spin on Boone and give him a taste of his own medicine when a movement at the foot of the jungle stopped him.

There she was, staring out at him with her head tilted, like she had a question on her mind that she couldn't voice. She smiled over at him, her eyes lighting up just the way he remembered them lighting up when he was a child. Why was she smiling? What did she have to be so happy about? He didn't even register as he took a step towards her, stopping as she backed up to match his proximity. The warm smile on her face faded as she spun and ran into the tree cover. "No, wait…"

"Hey, don't you walk away from me. Where the hell are you…" Boone's voice cut through his thoughts.

_His yelling scared her away, _Dean thought, his aggravation turning into anger. "Boone, get the hell away from me, or so help me, I will make sure to fix the fact that I saved you this morning," Dean hissed, turning on him and stalking the distance between them.

He was nauseous and his head hurt so badly that he didn't even delight in the fear on Boone's face as he stumbled away from Dean and fell onto his backside. He stared down at him, the humiliation and fear on his face stopping Dean cold as he turned from him and scrutinized the spot that his mother had fled from. His dead mother.

_Seeing her is my mind's way of dealing with Sam being gone._

"No," he told himself, shaking his head as he turned back away from the trees. Boone was still sprawled out on the ground, the fear on his face replaced with curiosity and a hint of concern. Dean slowly closed the gap between them and offered his hand. He almost laughed as Boone's eyes flicked to his outstretched hand, watching it as if it were a snake ready to strike. "Come on, man. Just take the help."

Boone visibly swallowed as his gaze left Dean's hand and settled on his face, searching him for any deceit. "I could have made it. I could have saved her."

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda," Dean told him with a shrug. "You tried to save her and that's all that matters." He watched as Boone remained pensive for a moment more before reaching out and grabbing Dean's hand and letting him pull him up.

They stared each other down for a moment before Dean nodded his head and patted him on the upper arm before he walked back to his almost complete shelter. How was a day that started out with such a relief possibly justification for the people around him to act the way they were acting?

He went into his tent with the intention that he would finish it up later and try to get some sleep instead, but that flew out the window the second he entered. Kate was sitting on one of the airline chairs he'd claimed, studying the work he'd already put into his tent. She was clearly impressed. "Nice digs."

He grinned at her compliment as he took a seat on the bedroll he'd made up out of a few blankets and unclaimed clothing articles. She turned to face him fully, her eyes twinkling, "I just might get you to take a look at what I've put up for me," she told him.

"Ah, so that's it, you're just trying to exploit me for my awesome tent building skills," Dean surmised.

"Well, it's definitely not for your ass." She gave him a cheeky grin at the surprised expression that flashed across his face.

"That actually doesn't shock me," Dean told her, not the least bit insulted as his grin matched hers. "It's not like this fine ass is attached to Jack or anything."

He knew he'd crossed the teasing line when Kate's smile disappeared, but he still couldn't help waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Look, that's actually the reason I headed over here," she told him, ignoring his antics.

"What? Because of Jack?"

"Yeah, have you seen him lately?" Kate asked him.

Dean let out a deep sigh as he stared up at his tent's ceiling, thinking back on the events of the day. "Honestly, I haven't seen him since earlier this morning," Dean told her. "He seemed pretty upset after all the commotion from earlier."

"He's kinda worrying me, Dean. Earlier, he got a little panicked and then started asking me about some guy in the water," Kate told him.

Dean motioned with his hand for her to continue, not knowing why that would have her freaked out. She took a deep breath with her shoulders jumping up before deflating and giving him a listless look. "There wasn't anyone where he was pointing."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I even asked him how long it had been since he slept, but he just froze up on me before leaving," she told him.

"Well, maybe we should go look for him?" Dean muttered, shrugging his shoulders. She nodded her head as they both stood and made their way out of his tent, barely out in the open before Walt ran up to them frantically. "Hey…hey…"

"What's wrong?" Kate asked.

"That pregnant lady fell down," Walt told them, pointing over his shoulder.

Kate's eyes widened as she shared a look with Dean before they took off behind Walt. He led them up the beach where they saw a crowd of people surrounding Michael and Charlie as they carried an unconscious Claire towards the infirmary tent.

"What happened," Dean asked. He ran out in front of them and walked backwards with them as he softly lifted her slack head and checked for a pulse. It was there, a little weak for his liking, but what concerned him more was that her skin was burning hot.

"She just dropped…" Charlie began.

"The heat…" Kate surmised as she walked with them. "Is she breathing?"

"I think…" Charlie answered her.

"She is," Dean confirmed for them. "Come on, let's get her inside," Dean told them, running forward and putting down a few pillows for them to place her on. Her head lulled to the side as soon as they set her down.

"Claire?" Dean crouched down and gently righted her head as Kate sat down next to him. "Come on, Claire, wake up," he muttered, gently patting her cheeks. He kept her head balanced while Kate grasped her hand, breathing in as she felt the heat.

"Dean, she's burning up," Kate whispered to him.

"Yeah, I know," he told her as he patted her cheek again. "Claire?" She stirred slightly, her eyelids fluttering open as she let out a low moan.

"Claire, hey, can you hear me?" Dean asked as her eyes focused on him first.

"What…"

"Claire, I'm here too. It's me, it's Kate," she told her, rubbing her hand soothingly. "You passed out, ok? Just take it easy."

Dean looked over his shoulder at Charlie while Kate continued to talk softly to her. "Dude, can you get her some water?"

"Water, right…" Charlie whispered, rushing frantically to the case they were keeping the water in. Dean continued to keep Claire's head steady while her breathing evened out, hoping things would finally settle down as he heard Charlie curse behind him.

"The water's gone," he told them. Dean glanced back at him over his shoulder, his concerned gaze falling on the empty space where he had last seen that red suitcase. "Oh crap…"

"Someone stole it," Charlie exclaimed. Dean looked over at Kate, motioning for her to trade places with him as he stood up and walked Charlie out of the tent. "Where's the case, Charlie?"

"How the hell should I know?" Charlie asked him. "I left it in the infirmary tent after Jack had his blow up this morning."

"Why the hell did you leave it unattended?" Dean asked him. _Geez, couldn't anyone on this island pull their head outta their ass? _Dean thought, ready to pummel Charlie. It was bad enough when he knew that that was all the water they had left, but now they were empty completely? "We are so screwed."

"Hey, what's going on with the water?" Kate asked, coming out of the tent. "She's really dehydrated."

"It's gone," Charlie told her.

"What do you mean, it's gone?"

Dean threw an agitated look at Charlie as he grabbed Kate's arm and pulled her away from the tent. "Dean, what's going on?"

"What's going on is that we're ten seconds away from a panic and Charlie isn't really helping," Dean told her, stopping when they were far enough away. He rolled his eyes as Locke and Sayid marched up to them, Sayid's face pinched in disbelief.

"Charlie told us that the water's gone," he told them.

"That's it, I'm gonna use his damn duct tape to cover his mouth," Dean hissed. "How much do you know?"

"Only that Claire passed out and she needs water," Sayid told them.

"Where's the doctor?" Locke asked. He seemed to be remaining suspiciously calm despite being told that their entire camp was out of water. _It sucks that he's the one that can keep a level head, _Dean mused bitterly.

"We don't know," Kate answered. "No one can find him."

"Was that the last of the camp's water supply?" Sayid questioned them.

"Yeah," Dean answered. "Charlie and Hurley managed to gather it all together this morning."

"Keeping it all in one place…foolish," Sayid spat out.

"It wasn't smart," Dean agreed. "But, leaving all of our water unattended kinda trumps the other one." He shook his head in disgust as they all turned their attention to him. "If you can't tell, I'm a little pissed off at Charlie right now."

"Look, I can go into the jungle, maybe find some fresh water," Kate volunteered, ignoring Dean and Sayid.

"You're not going alone," Sayid told her.

"When the others find out the water's gone, it's gonna get ugly," Locke interrupted them. "And, when they find out somebody pinched it, it's gonna get uglier."

"Are we having a 'who can state the obvious' contest?"Dean asked, almost growling as Locke's cocky smile grew.

"I'll go."

"Hell no," Dean growled. "You are out of your mind if you think you're going into that jungle alone."

Locke's smile got wider as he shrugged off Dean's comment. "I wasn't aware that permission would be required for me to go into the jungle by myself, Dean. The camp needs you three here…especially with the doctor gone. And, besides, I know where to look." He didn't even wait for their answer before turning and walking away from them.

"That son of a bitch," Dean hissed as they watched him walk towards the jungle.

"If he manages to find Jack or some fresh water, he'll have no problems from me," Sayid told them. "In the meantime, I will gather the remaining water from the catchers into the empty bottles we have."

"Yeah, sounds good," Dean agreed, trying to reign in his suspicions about Locke.

"When you get some gathered, can you make sure Claire gets a little?" Kate asked, smiling as Sayid nodded her way before heading over to the catches.

* * *

Dean tied back part of his tent so that the night air blew through his shelter. The heat today had been brutal, but giving up the meager share of water that Sayid had offered to him for Claire had made it worse.

He was thankful that the sun had finally gone down and that a cool breeze was blowing through the beach, cooling everything and everyone off.

He sat down on his bedroll and felt the stress start to roll off of him before he laid back completely and finally allowed himself to relax. It had taken an entire day of dramatic bullshit, but he could finally take the rest of the day to forget everything that had happened. Wait, was somebody shouting? "Jesus Christ, what now?"

"Sounds like the cavalry's getting ready for a lynching," Sawyer shot as he walked past his tent. "Too bad the doc ain't here to put a stop to all these shenanigans."

Dean hissed out a groan as he stood up and walked out of his tent, throwing a look up at the heavens in a desperate plea to understand why these people were such idiots. The farther he got away from his tent, the more he could hear raised voices and he used that noise to lead him to a large group of people. He got there just in time to see Boone shoved into the sand by Charlie.

"Hey, hey. What the hell's going on?" Dean shouted and ran up and stepped in between them as Charlie rushed at Boone.

"What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on, there's your thief," Charlie yelled, pointing down at Boone.

"Where'd he hide it?" Michael asked as Charlie tried to get past Dean, his eyes wild.

"Hide what?" Dean shouted, holding him back.

"The water. This wanker had three bottles on him," Charlie told Dean. "Why'd you do it, Pretty Boy? Eh?" He shouted, shoving at Dean so he could take a swing at Boone.

"Hey, calm down, right now," Dean told him, shoving him back. He could hear Boone finally getting to his feet behind him and wanted nothing more than to turn on him and demand an explanation, but he had a feeling that would only provoke the group of people around him.

"Look, I didn't think…you just left it in the tent," Boone began, holding up his hands. "Jack just took off…"

"Claire could have died!" Charlie shouted at him.

"I tried to give her some sooner, but it got out of hand. Nobody would've understood…" Boone tried again.

"Dude, not now, ok?" Dean hissed back at him. He could see the tensions rising higher and knew it wouldn't be long before someone escalated all of this into something he couldn't stop.

"I say we throw him in the jungle and see what happens," Charlie shouted, confirming Dean's fears. He could see Kate and Sayid coming up behind Shannon whose face was covered in fear. It was funny how it took her brother being the camp's black sheep for her to stop caring about worry lines on her face.

"What's going on?" Kate asked.

"Guess they found your thief," Sawyer grumbled. Dean snorted in his direction, wondering why he'd even bothered to head over here if all he was going to do was antagonize the situation.

"I was only trying to help," Boone defended himself against Sawyer's statement. "Someone needed to take responsibility. It never would have lasted unless…"

"OH, SHUT UP!" Charlie yelled, shoving past Dean and managing to land a punch that knocked Boone back into the sand. He grabbed him ready to land another one as Dean grabbed Charlie by the back of the shirt and threw him away from Boone.

"Leave him alone," Dean heard someone command, taking the exact words out of his mouth. The circle of people around him parted to reveal Jack. He looked exhausted and upset at the same time. "Thank god," Dean murmured as he walked through the group and stopped next to Dean, giving him a wan smile before turning to the people that were ready to take a piece out of Boone.

"It's been six days and we're all still waiting. Still waiting for them to come," Jack informed the group. "But, what if they don't?"

The people in the group began to murmur questioningly, almost as if they never thought about the fact that rescue might not ever come for them. It seemed as if they were all waiting around to be served magical boar and magical water until a leisure boat took them back to their regular lives.

"We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out," he addressed them. "Just this morning, two people almost died, one because she went for a morning swim." He stopped talking as he looked back at Boone and pointed him out. "He tried to save her life and now you're all about to crucify him because he took some water?"

Dean looked back at Boone with a grin before turning back to the group in time to watch as Charlie dropped his gaze in shame. It kind of amazed him how moldable these people were.

"We can't do this...we can't just hope it'll figure itself out. It's time to start organizing. We need to figure out how we're going to survive. I found water, fresh water in the valley," Jack told them, earning a new round of murmurs from the group of survivors. "I'll take a group out at first light. If you don't want to come, then you find another way to contribute because 'every man for himself' isn't gonna work anymore, people."

He looked over at Dean before taking a deep breath to continue what he was saying. Dean was happy to see that the Jack from earlier that morning was gone and in his place was exactly what these people needed. A leader. "Last week, most of us were strangers. But now we're all here, and God knows how long we're gonna be here, but...if we can't live together, we're gonna die alone."

Damn. Mel Gibson hadn't even done that well when he gave his speech in Braveheart, and that guy had been in war paint. "The case of water, can you go get it?" Jack asked Boone.

Boone nodded up at Jack. "Look, I'm sorry about…"

"About protecting the water until it could be rationed? Charlie and Hurley were just asking me to do that earlier today before I left, I appreciate you taking care of it for me," Jack stated, loud enough for the entire group to hear.

Boone shot him a grateful look as he scurried away to retrieve the red case. Dean stayed behind him, watching as the group around them dispersed now that everything was settled. _I guess if you don't get the soap opera channel, you get your drama fix where you can,_ he thought with a grimace.

"… just wanted to apologize," Jack finished. Dean shook off his thoughts as Jack finished what he was saying. How long had he been dazing while Jack was talking?

"Uh, yeah, don't worry about it, ok?" Dean asked as he walked away from him towards his tent. The way he figured it, if the rest of the time he spent on this island was gonna be filled with this much bullshit, he may as well head out into the jungle and face the unknown without being prepared.

He returned to his tent just in time to see Charlie and Hurley as they handed out water from the returned suitcase to the survivors. He took a seat to watch as most of them seemed back to being happy and content. Oblivious. "Idiots."

"Just those two or everybody?" Dean heard behind him. He leaned back and looked up to see Jack standing sheepishly next to him as he also watched the scene before them.

"Doesn't matter. It's not important."

"Alright," Jack said with a nod. "Hey, is your last name Hetfield or Winchester?" Jack asked so suddenly that it startled Dean for a moment.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, while I was out there today I found a bunch of things from the crash including a bag with the name Dean Hetfield on it," Jack explained to him. Dean stood up as he explained this, too scared that he was kidding to get excited yet.

"Where is it?"

"I didn't bring it with me," Jack told him. He watched as Dean deflated before holding up his hands. "I just wanted to make sure I had the right person before I brought you a bag that you've been desperately looking for and it wasn't yours. We're going to get water tomorrow, you can come with us and get your things."

Dean let out a whoosh of breath as he nodded his head with a smile. "Thanks man."

"Do you know anyone named Sam?" Jack asked him. "Sam Frost?"

"Sam's my brother," Dean told him. "We were both on the plane, but he went to the bathroom in the back a few minutes before the crash. Why do you ask?"

Jack smiled at him with a nod of his head. "I'm not sure which one of you was the genius behind this, but his bag's handle was zip-tied to yours."

**Author's Note: I will admit…this is a complete filler chapter. I'm not saying it completely sucks, but compared to the last chapter which was so SHA-SHA, this one's weak…in my opinion. Still, I hope it's enjoyed and that people review and lift up my spirits the way they've been doing. You guys are all awesome and I'm so glad this story is liked as much as it is. 51 reviews! That's nothing to snuff about. By the way, while I admit that this chapter is filler, the next chapter should be shock and awe. Dean has his bags back now…time to go look for Sam!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or LOST.**

"How'd you find this place?"

Dean grinned up at Kate as she smiled back at him from her place in between himself and Jack as they were led to the location of the fresh water. And to where his bags had ended up. The main reason he had even volunteered to participate in this hike with Kate, Jack, Locke and Charlie was so that he could retrieve his things. It seemed like these people were always seeking out reasons to enter this jungle, and while he was all for helping to carry the water back to the beach, his mind was otherwise occupied with the knowledge that he was hours away from his search to find Sam.

"Luck," Jack yelled back, a laugh invading his tone as he kept his eyes on the trail ahead of them.

"Whatever you say, man," Dean responded, his tone full of the same mirth.

"You don't believe me?" Jack asked as he stopped his trek. He turned back to Dean with a smirk and raised his eyebrows at the challenge, while Dean just chuckled with a shake of his head. He could see the smile Kate was wearing at the inquiry, but didn't even bother to turn to the rest of their party as Charlie let out a deep laugh.

"Dude, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the only luck on this island is bad," Dean informed him as he emphasized his point with a playful shrug.

"Says the man that survived a plane crash," Charlie murmured from behind him.

Dean let out a dry chuckle as Charlie's words sank in completely. If only he knew. Was it luck that he had willingly boarded a plane harboring a crash happy demon and survived that ordeal only to board another plane that would take him back to his beloved Impala, but have that supernaturally deprived vessel crash? Either bad luck or irony, he couldn't be totally sure.

"Well, this one I'm chalking up to luck," Jack told them as he ignored Charlie's remark. "Trust me, nothing else would have urged me to even go in there." Jack turned back towards their path and indicated a narrow opening in the rock wall ahead of them.

Dean's eyes widened as he realized that they were all looking at the entrance that had to lead to the water Jack had discovered. He could see his own shock mirrored on Kate's face as she stared out at the cave opening. Jack only smiled at their shock before continuing onward, glancing over his shoulder only once as all four of them moved to catch up with him.

As he ducked down to enter the caves, Dean became more and more positive that there was more to this discovery than luck. He just wasn't sure what was so horrible that Jack had to adopt such an evasive excuse about his activities, but he figured every man was entitled to their secrets.

They followed Jack further through a small rock tunnel that led them straight into a large cavernous opening where lush vines crawled up the walls and a small spring held the contents of the multiple waterfalls surrounding it. "Oh my god," Kate murmured in awe.

"This is it," Jack proudly informed them as he motioned around with a smile.

"It's amazing," Locke murmured as he stared out at the expanse.

"Absolutely," Charlie agreed. "It's totally you," he added, pointing at Locke with a grin.

Jack chuckled as he and Dean squatted down and shucked off their backpacks before they began to remove the empty water bottles they'd brought with them. "Gotta say, this is some luck," Dean commented as he scrutinized the space they were in with amazement. "Almost dumb luck."

"It's been my experience that dumb luck is pretty much the best kind of luck there is," Jack told him with a worried smile.

Dean grinned back as he took out his last bottle and sat down fully on the ground. "Hey, I'm not sure this is the best time, but I wanted to talk to you about something."

Jack tipped one of his bottles into the water and drank its contents before he turned back to Dean, his face a mask of curiosity as realization lit up his eyes. "Oh, sorry, I completely forgot. Your bags are over there with the other wreckage," Jack said as he motioned to the items in a corner of the cave.

Dean glanced in the direction Jack had indicated, barely having to search as his gaze landed straight on his bag, nestled right at the front. "Thanks man, but that's not what I needed to talk to you about." Dean tore his attention away from his belongings and turned back to Jack with a sigh. "Look…um. I just wanted to let you know that I'm gonna help you guys get these bottles filled and brought back to the beach, but then I gotta go," Dean told him.

Jack nodded at him in understanding and opened his mouth to comment before a voice above them cut in. "Go where?" They both looked up to see Kate staring down at them, her face twisted anxiously.

"Uh…would you believe I'm not sure yet?"

She pursed her lips and glanced back and forth between Dean and Jack before rolling her eyes with a scoff. "Ok, what the hell's going on?"

Dean's eyebrows lifted as he turned to Jack, gesturing that he was more than welcome to elaborate. "Kate, his brother was in the tail section of the plane," Jack explained.

"So?"

"So, he's on this island somewhere, with the rest of the people that were in the tail," Dean told her. "Think about it, we know where the fuselage is and you guys found the cockpit, but the tail section's just gone?"

Kate mulled over Dean's words before she knelt down with them and slung off her backpack. She glanced over Dean and Jack's hunched forms to make sure Locke and Charlie were far enough away from them before turning her attention back to the two men in front of her. "The last thing I want is for you to think I'm being insensitive, but shouldn't you keep in mind that the tail section may have hit water and sank?"

"I'd know if Sam were dead," Dean objected as he shook his head. "He's my brother and I know he's on this island somewhere, either looking for me or waiting for me to find him." Kate turned to Jack with a helpless look, but only received a grim smile. She glanced back at Dean, surprised as she realized that there wasn't any hope on his features, only assurance. She'd never met anybody with that kind of faith in a dismal situation.

"Hey guys? Shouldn't someone look through this stuff?" Charlie yelled, breaking up their pow-wow as he indicated the wreckage. "Could be something useful in there."

"He's got a point," Locke agreed as he walked past him.

"I do?" Charlie asked incredulously.

Dean stood up and gave a last lingering look to Jack and Kate before walking over to the wreckage and patting Charlie on the shoulder. "You do. Only, let me grab my bags first, alright?"

Charlie nodded at him as Dean knelt down next to his bag. He gingerly touched the two zip-ties that were fastened around the handles of his and Sam's bag, holding them together just like Jack had told him. "When the hell did that bastard manage to tie our bags together?" He whispered around an amused chuckle.

"Sorry?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing, man," Dean smiled up at him as he unzipped his bag. "I'm just really glad to finally have my stuff." He pushed aside several clean articles of clothing, giddy as his fingers brushed up against the cool metal of what had to be his shotgun.

"Ah yes, now you can brush your teeth and shave those whiskers," Charlie surmised drolly. Dean opened up Sam's bag and dug around until he found his father's leather bound journal and pulled it out with a relieved sigh. He opened it up and began to flip through the pages before throwing Charlie a confident smirk. "I can also research."

The grin on Charlie's face faded into confusion before he shrugged it off. "Yeah, well, to each his own, I guess."

"Hey, if you're gonna look through the wreckage, bring me your bottles," Jack yelled across the caves. "Also, keep an eye out for any medical supplies. Drugs in particular."

"Drugs," Charlie agreed with a nod. "Right." Dean kept flipping through his father's journal, not paying any attention to Charlie as he backed up and headed out of the caves the same way they'd come in. He figured Charlie wouldn't go far or manage to get himself lost in the jungle if he stayed close by. It wasn't until Locke followed along the same path as Charlie and left the caves that Dean looked up.

"What the hell is he up to?" Dean asked out loud, his eyes narrowed.

"Who?" Jack asked.

Dean stood up and glanced over at Jack and Kate, their confused looks confirming that he'd just spoken his suspicions out loud. "Locke," he told them. "He just followed Charlie outside." They both shared a look as Dean shook his head incredulously and ran after them. He stopped outside and scanned the area quickly, frustrated when neither of them appeared in his sights.

"He's over there," Kate pointed as she and Jack ran up behind him. They all turned in the direction Kate had pointed to see Locke at the bottom of a small hill just outside the caves. He had his hand held out in front of him in a placating manner as he spoke to something or someone that they couldn't see from their current position. "Where's Charlie?" Jack asked.

"Let's find out," Dean murmured. He started his climb down the hill very slowly, observant of any roots, shrubs or holes that could trip him up and injure him along the way. The last thing he needed hours before he was about to journey this island was a twisted ankle. He was nearly at the bottom when his point of view finally allowed him to see the area past Locke's outstretched hand. He almost groaned as Charlie came into view, his face white as a ghost as he stood ramrod straight while several bees either climbed up his jeans or flew around him. "Oh shit."

"What's going on?" Jack asked from behind him as he and Kate came to a stop midway down the hill. He could hear when Kate let out an astonished gasp as Jack cursed under his breath at the situation before them. "He's standing on a beehive," Locke told them, still keeping his arm out in front of him. Dean snorted at the information that they were all privy to now, wondering what else Captain Obvious wanted to let them know about. The sky was blue? Nope, can't believe that one. Water was wet? Get out!

"What's a beehive doing there? Beehives are supposed to be in trees," Charlie frantically reasoned.

"What now?" Jack asked as he stepped further down the hill so he could get a better look.

"John, you gotta keep him still," Dean told Locke. "If he moves, he'll split that hive."

"I know," Locke agreed with a rueful smile plastered on his face.

"I don't like bees, ok?" Charlie told them, keeping his attention on the hive below his feet. "I have an irrational fear of bees…I think I'm allergic to…"

"Please be quiet," Locke requested with enough force behind his words that Charlie visibly gulped before shutting up completely. This was, definitely, the quietest Dean had heard Charlie be since the plane had crashed. "We need to get something to seal the hive," Locke informed them as he pointed in their direction.

"To cover it?" Kate asked. She stepped away from Jack, ready to run back up the hill and search through the wreckage in the cave for something to alleviate the situation. "Yes, hurry," Locke told them. She nodded as Dean nudged Jack and nodded for him to go with her. Jack shook his head in understanding at the silent request and raced back up the hill behind her, leaving Dean and Locke with a panicked but silent Charlie.

"Dude, it's not like we have any wax or glue up in that cave," Dean whispered over to Locke. "What the hell are you expecting them to find?"

"Dean, I need you to just have a little faith, alright?" Locke asked him, the smile on his face replaced with a somnolent expression. Dean straightened up, ready to jump the small distance that separated him from Locke and shove his 'faith' down his throat when Jack reappeared behind him, a suitcase in his hand. "Will this work?"

Dean glanced down at the suitcase, his face scrunched up pensively before shaking his head. "To seal up the hive?" he asked skeptically.

"We skimmed through the wreckage, but there's nothing in there we could actually seal it with. This was actually Kate's idea," Jack told them, indicating the suitcase again.

"Ok, maybe this is my GED education talking, but I'm not following you here," Dean told him, eyeing the suitcase and then the hive.

"I'm gonna cover the hive with the suitcase," Jack explained to him with a smile. He watched as the simplicity of Kate's plan dawned on Dean before Jack nodded at them and moved towards Charlie very slowly. He crouched down at his feet, right next to the hive and looked back up at Charlie, giving him a reassuring smile before he took a deep breath. "Ok, just keep still man."

"This is the most crap idea ever," Charlie exclaimed, still not moving a muscle. "It's never gonna work." Dean was amazed that Charlie was sill managing to remain stationary now that he had several of those little bastards crawling across his face.

"Pull yourself together, son," Locke calmly advised him. Dean nodded his head at him as he realized that there were too many bees out of the hive now for them to make a clean getaway. If that hive cracked, they would all be rewarded with a few beestings for their efforts.

"It wouldn't be an irrational fear of bees if I could just pull myself together, would it?" Charlie rebuked his advice. Dean watched as Jack leaned closer, his hands steady and his concentration focused on the task at hand as he almost had the suitcase over the hive. _Almost there, _Dean thought with a smile. Maybe there was such a thing as good luck on this island.

Charlie reached up and slapped at one of the bees on his face which knocked his balance off so badly that he stepped into the middle of the hive and cracked it down the middle. "Murphy's Law," Dean muttered as he watched a swarm of bees rise from the broken hive and converge with the already flying ones before they all scattered to five different targets.

He ran back up the hill behind Kate and Jack, cursing as the first stings bit into his right arm before he felt another nip at his cheek. Why had he stayed at the very bottom of the hill when Jack was the one that had been handling everything?He furiously swatted the air around him as he re-entered the cave with Jack and Kate who were also trying to get away from the tiny stingers attacking their skin. He yanked off his shirt and fanned it into the air, using it to swat away any of the remaining bees that had tailed them.

Even as the buzzing sounds finally died down, he continued to swat at the air, shuddering as he still felt them invisibly crawling on his skin. He dropped his t-shirt and collapsed on a low part of the rock wall as he finally started to take inventory of the bumps all over his arms and face. He looked up at Jack and Kate, both also shirtless, as they followed his cue and collapsed against the most solid surface closest to them so they could catch their breath and calm themselves down.

"Well, that was the most 'My Girl' I ever want my life to turn into," Dean grunted. Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion while Kate let out a mirthful chuckle as she shook her head in disbelief. "You've seen 'My Girl'?"

"Tenth grade," Dean told her around a grin. "Turned out Shelly DePommers really liked the sensitive types." Kate let out a full bellied laugh as she turned around and leaned her arms on an opening in the wall.

"Oh my god!" She shrieked, her laughter cut off as she backed up a step. Jack and Dean jumped up, both racing to her side as they inspected the rock shelf she was staring at in horror. Dean's own eyes widened at the dingy dressed skeleton that stared right back at them.

"Who is he?" Kate asked in a shaky tone. "How'd he get here?"

Jack leaned closer as he inspected the bones, careful not to touch them before he stood back up and shook his head. "I can't exactly perform an autopsy, but…there doesn't seem to be any major trauma to the bones."

"There's another one over here," Dean called out, motioning to the ground where another skeleton was positioned.

Jack and Kate scooted forward, both of them looking back and forth between the skeletons, curiosity lingering on their features. "Someone laid them to rest here," Jack theorized after a moment.

"Who?" Kate asked.

"I dunno," Jack told her with a shrug.

"Where would they come from?" Kate asked.

"Didn't you guys shoot a polar bear last week," Jack asked her.

"Yeah."

"Where'd that come from?"

"Wait a second," Dean interrupted, halting their conversation. "You guys shot a polar bear? When?" Jack and Kate shared a guilty look as Dean stared at them incredulously. "Well?"

"When we went out on the transceiver hike," Kate calmly explained to him. "There was a polar bear coming at us and Sawyer shot it and killed it."

"There was a polar bear here? On a tropical island?" Dean asked in disbelief. Kate nodded over at him before he continued. "Is that how Sawyer got that damn gun?" Dean asked.

Kate looked down at the ground and then back up at him with another nod. He snorted as he threw up his arms and turned away from them. This was just unbelievable….how many other things were being kept under wraps?

"Do you have any idea how long they've been here?" Kate asked after a pregnant pause.

Dean heard the sharp exhale from Jack as he kept his back to the both of them. "Long. It takes forty or fifty years for clothing to degrade like this," Jack surmised. Dean turned back around as Jack faced the skeleton on the shelf, his brow furrowed. He reached forward and pulled out a leather pouch that had been with it, looking over at Dean with a mixture of apology and inquisitiveness. Dean allowed the tension to melt away from his face as he stepped forward while Jack opened the pouch and held it upside down. Two polished stones fell into his open hand…one white and one black.

"Hello, anybody there?" They all turned from the rock shelf to the cave entrance as Locke came around the corner, startled to see them already in there. "Everyone alright?"

"A few stings aside," Jack told him, nodding as Charlie entered right behind Locke. He put the stones back in the leather pouch and placed it back on the shelf.

"You three run away fantastically. Glad my diversion spared you," Charlie lamented out loud. "I was only stung several hundred times." He indicated his arms and face where most of the bees had been as Jack and Dean put their shirts back on with a snicker. "Oh, and uh…someone left this," he smirked as he handed the material in his hands back to Kate who turned red as it dawned on her that she was practically topless save for a thin white bra.

She reached forward and grabbed her shirt from him while she tried to cover up her bare midriff and get her shirt back on at the same time in vain. "It was…um…it was full of bees," she stammered out after she'd calmed down enough to get her shirt on and smoothed out.

"I'da thought C's actually," Charlie countered with a smile.

"Ha…nice," Dean snorted, laughing harder as they all turned to him in shock. Charlie smiled over at Dean before turning to Kate, her cold look wiping the smile off his face as he muttered a half hearted apology. Out of the corner of his eye, Charlie noticed the skeleton on the ground and knelt down to get a better look at it. "Bloody hell. Are these the people that were here before us?"

"What are you talking about?" Locke asked, coming forward to inspect what they had found. Dean's attention turned to Locke as he rolled his question around in his mind until realization hit. The one thing that Dean knew that he and Locke had in common was that they'd both stayed out of the several hikes into the jungle, with the exception of the hunting hike. Those same several hikes in which Jack, Kate and Charlie had participated and obviously discovered things that they felt didn't need to be shared with the other survivors.

_Of course, you didn't tell them about your hallucination, _his inner self chastised.

"Oh…uh…just that…um…there could have been people…here…before us. Right?" Charlie stammered at Locke's question. Dean almost groaned, knowing that if he lied as bad as Charlie seemed to lie, his life as a hunter would have been cut short years ago.

"Clearly," Locke agreed. "But, who were these men?"

"Actually, one of them's female," Jack corrected him.

Dean watched as Locke stared down at the skeletons, a thoughtful yet serene look crossing his features before he let a small smile slip past his lips. "Our very own Adam and Eve."

****

**

* * *

**

It had taken Jack and Dean close to an hour to fill up every one of the water bottles they'd brought with them, while Locke, Kate and Charlie had looked through the wreckage. Dean placed the last of his bottles in his pack before he zipped it up and handed it off to Kate. "You guys sure you're gonna be ok getting back to camp alone?"

"Hey, at least Jack and I are heading back together," Kate corrected him. "I'm more worried about you trying to find your way back alone."

Dean waved off her concern with a smile as he knelt back down next to his father's journal and read through a few of the passages. "I'll be fine on my own, trust me."

"Whatever you say, Dean," she told him with a knowing smile. She clipped the backpack and adjusted the straps so that it wouldn't be moving before she stood up with a stretch. "Well, I'm ready," she announced to Jack who remained seated as he studied the caves surroundings. "Besides, people are probably getting thirsty back at the beach." Jack finally looked up at her, nodding his head as a calculating smile graced his features.

"What?" Kate asked.

"Forty six people need to drink a half gallon a day each," Jack told her. "Carrying all this water back and forth is gonna be a real pain in the ass."

"Yeah, why do you think I just 'mysteriously' volunteered to help look through wreckage," Dean joked in agreement.

Jack ignored Dean as he looked around at their surroundings, again, before he turned his attention back to them. "These caves make too good a shelter to be used just for burial. Adam and Eve…they must have lived here. Their plane crashed or maybe they were shipwrecked. They probably found this place and knew they could survive here. There's an unlimited supply of fresh water, tree canopy keeps the temperature down…shields out the sun. The openings are narrow, easier for protection against predators," he shook his head in disbelief at Kate and Dean, his mouth set in a firm line. "We don't need to bring the water to the people, we need to bring the people to the water."

Kate smiled uneasily over at Dean as Jack stood up and shouldered his own backpack, grimacing at the extra weight from the water. He moved his shoulders a few times to get a feel for the pack before nodding his head and turning back to them. "I think we could live here," he added before he walked away.

"He wants to move here?" Kate asked, incredulously.

"Apparently," Dean told her as rolled his eyes with a smirk. "I think the bigger question is how many people are actually gonna follow him up here?"

"You don't think they'd all follow him up here?" Kate asked as her eyes followed Jack's path to the cave opening.

"Well, it's no secret that you're one of Jack's biggest supporters," Dean told her, lifting an eyebrow as she nodded at his statement, no denial or confirmation coming from her lips. "Even you seem to be a little freaked out by this idea."

Kate stared at Dean for a moment, her face blank as her thoughts drifted to Jack's idea of moving everyone from the beach. He could tell she was conflicted and was glad that he wouldn't have to pick a side since we has leaving soon anyways.** "**Kate, you coming?" Jack called, breaking her out of her daze. She smiled over at Dean with a shrug before running to catch up with Jack.

"Oh, Dean?" She called back as she turned and jogged backwards away from him. "If you leave without saying goodbye, I'll track this whole island to find you and kick your ass." Dean nodded at her comment with a laugh before she turned and caught up with Jack.

"You two are so cute. Like the two dogs from Lady and the Tramp," Charlie commented from behind Dean. "Guess which one you are."

"Funny dude," Dean told him with an eye roll. "In case you hadn't noticed, not only do I stay away from the overly romantic feelings, but I have zero romantic feelings for Kate. Also, that chick is head over heels for Jack."

"True, true," Charlie conceded. "Maybe she's using you to make him jealous."

Dean let out an exasperated breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Charlie, is there anything besides your filler of drama that you wanted to discuss?"

"Yeah, actually. We were listening to you guys talk and I just wanted to know if you really think Jack wants to move everyone up here?" Charlie asked as he motioned to the caves. Dean looked from Charlie to Locke before he shrugged his shoulders.

"I think Jack's priority right now is to make sure that everyone that survived the plane crash continues to survive on this island," Dean told them as honestly as he could. "I have to admit that Jack's reasons for moving up here are valid, but at the same time, there'll be drawbacks."

"Pros and cons to every situation, Charlie," Locke added. "It's just a matter of weighing them out and deciding which option ends up as the best all around."

"Sometimes, it isn't even that simple," Dean countered, earning a nod from Locke. Maybe he'd misjudged Locke. Maybe he'd allowed his stress from the plane crash and Sammy being lost to fester on the hunting trip and he'd taken it out on the only other person that had been around.

"Well then, shouldn't we do something about them?" Charlie asked as he nodded to the two skeletons in the cave. "If Jack does move people up here they're not gonna react well to the previous tenants still hanging around."

Dean chuckled at his choice of words before nodding his head at him. "Look, I was planning on heading back to the beach shortly anyways, so why don't I just take care of them?" He smiled brightly as he thought of the three containers of salt he had in his bag alone. He knew that he was probably being overly cautious, but he was so glad that he'd be able to salt and burn the bones, just in case these caves had any spirits hanging around. Even though, he hadn't noticed anything to prove that.

"Yeah, sure mate," Charlie told him with a grin. "I know I'd appreciate not having to deal with that particular task."

"As would I," Lock agreed. "How about I clear out two of the larger suitcases for you to haul them out of here with?" Locke asked.

Dean glanced over at him, trying not to let the shock show through his features as he nodded his head. "I'd appreciate that. Also, if you guys see anything that'll make digging easier, would you let me know?" Locke grinned back at him as he picked out one of the suitcases and prepared to clear it out for Dean's use.

* * *

Dean climbed out of the last grave he'd dug with a grimace as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. The shard of metal from the wreckage that Locke had found had ended up being a suitable substitute to the shovels he usually used to dig up a grave, but it had its downfalls. _Like the shallow cuts that replaced my normal blisters and calluses, _he thought as he examined his tender hands with a wince.

Also, he hadn't been able to dig past about three feet deep and as he looked back down at the holes in the ground, he couldn't help but be disappointed that they weren't as deep as he would have liked. Had it been two freshly dead bodies that he had to take care of, the current depth wouldn't have worked, but considering that they were fully decomposed skeletons, what he had would have to do. Especially when he considered that the purpose of these graves was to contain the fire he was about to start rather than actually burying the bones.

He unzipped the first suitcase and carefully placed the first set of bones into the consequent grave before repeating the action with the second set of bones. He wasn't sure if he needed to keep the bodies separate, but he figured they each deserved their own graves. As he pulled one of the containers of salt out of his bag, he couldn't help but smile, even if his task at hand seemed a little grim. He'd been raised a certain way and he couldn't help it if he considered salt to be his own personal mineralized security blanket.

"Alright, well, I have to figure that this is all pointless since neither of your spirits are trying to kill me in order to stop this from happening," Dean muttered down at the bones. "Um…I don't really know what to say right now. Um…your stairway lies on the whispering wind?" He winced as he realized that he'd just quoted Led Zeppelin as a eulogy for two skeletons that had been dead for more than several decades. "Dear god, this plane crash has turned me into a complete chick."

He almost gagged at how pathetic he sounded as he uncapped his salt container and coated each set of bones in enough salt to kill an army of slugs. He rummaged through his bag some more, smiling as he found his small canteen of lighter fluid and doused the bones thoroughly before he retrieved his Zippo from his pocket.

"Ok, now I just gotta find something else to burn," Dean murmured as he gathered two tiny handfuls of dried brush. There was no way in hell he was willing to lose his only lighter by throwing it into the graves.

He lit the brush on fire before throwing them down into each of the graves, smiling with a relieved sigh as the familiar hiss of a growing fire coming alive reached his ears. He sat down on a boulder and watched the flames as they remained consistently strong shooting out of the two holes he'd dug. He figured he'd give it about twenty minutes and then cover each grave with enough dirt to safely extinguish the flames.

No sense in pissing off Smokey the Bear.

* * *

"Jack just informed me that you would be leaving us very soon," Sayid ambushed Dean the moment he stepped out of the jungle.

"Jack would be correct," Dean confirmed for him. He continued down the path to his tent, annoyed as he realized that Sayid was following him step for step. He glanced over at him sideways and noticed that his facial features were incredibly tense. "You kinda look like you wanna talk me out of it."

"I was told about your reason for leaving, which I believe to be very noble."

"Alright," Dean chuckled with a shake of his head. "But…?"

"But, are you sure that it is a wise idea?" Sayid asked. "Going into that jungle alone when you know what is out there…"

"I don't know what's out there," Dean corrected him as he stopped right outside of his tent. He turned to face him as he set down his bags with a deep sigh. "Unfortunately, I can't figure out what made those noises, but I'm prepared," he bent down, unzipped his bag and held it open for Sayid to see the few weapons he'd managed to get onto two separate planes.

Sayid looked down at him, his eyes wide and Dean could only surmise that he was being seen in a completely different light from before. "How did you get those weapons on the plane?"

Dean stood back up with a shrug. "Unlike Locke, I've made friends with people that have ties to customs," he told him. He figured the most honest answer was his best approach at this point. "Look, I was hoping to get a good head start on this hike before the sun goes down so…" he indicated his tent as he gave Sayid a knowing smile.

"Yes, of course," Sayid nodded at him. "I think it goes without saying for you to be careful out there."

"Yet, you still said it," Dean chuckled at Sayid's smile as he nodded and then turned to head back up the beach. "Hey Sayid," Dean called over to him. He waited until he turned back in his direction, his eyebrows lifted in question. "I'll introduce you to my brother when we get back."

Sayid smiled back at him. "I look forward to it."

Dean nodded back at him with a smile before he entered his tent and surveyed his surroundings. "I may have set a record for shortest time at a residence," he said to the open space. Considering the way he'd grown up, that thought amused him as he continued to study the items he'd pilfered for himself. He was well aware that most of the things that he'd actually need on this trip were already in his bag, but a few luxuries couldn't hurt his cause.

He made fast work of emptying his and Sam's bags so that he could put the most important items together in the hiking backpack he'd appropriated from the infirmary tent. Already, he'd gone seven days in the same clothes, so he figured that if he only packed a few changes, nobody would be complaining. Except for Sam. Sam would twist up his typical bitch face, scrunch up his nose and tell him that he couldn't be more disgusting. Dean was sure that, wherever Sam was, he'd rigged up a shower system first.

He rolled up his bulkiest weapons in his bedroll and placed them in his backpack first, careful as he made sure that he used the few changes of clothing he'd picked out as padding to keep them safe. He stood up straight and glanced around his tent, content to leave the rest of his items here instead of weighing down his pack even more.

"Well, I'm gonna need some food," he told himself, grimacing as he realized that relying on his ability to hunt while he was hiking fell along the same lines as gambling. He stepped out of his tent and looked up at the fruit tree that had made his tent's location so brilliant.

"It's either fruit or possible nothing," Dean sighed out as he reached up and picked a few of the lower hanging pieces. He didn't want to pack too much and risk all of it spoiling, so he made sure to stop at what he'd guessed could hold him for half a week.

He wrapped up the fruit in one of his t-shirts and placed it at the top of his pack with his dad's journal. _This is it_, he thought with a nod. He had everything he thought he would need to successfully make this hike. "I hope," he muttered to himself as he gave his tent one last look over. He knew he had probably forgotten something, but he was also pretty damn sure that his mental checklist was completely checked off on the important items.

"I guess it's now or never," he muttered as he shouldered his pack and buckled the straps before he left his tent behind. He walked up the beach, intent to find Jack or Kate so he could let them know he was leaving. Luckily, it didn't take long he found them both sitting in the sand, speaking animatedly to each other. By the look of their discussion, he wasn't sure if he should interrupt them or not, but he figured anything they were talking about could wait the few moments it would take for him to say goodbye.

He had almost closed the distance between them as Jack stood up and marched away from Kate, leaving her with a defeated look on her face. He could tell that Jack was also upset about something, but doing his best to hide it. "Hey, what's his deal?"

"I think he's disappointed that I'm staying on the beach," Kate told him, keeping her eyes on the water as she spoke.

"So, you decided to stay," Dean commented as he took a seat next to her in the sand. She looked over at him, her grim smile fading completely as she noticed the backpack he was wearing. "You're leaving?"

"That I am," Dean told her with a nod. "I would have left a little sooner, but someone threatened me with an ass kicking if I didn't say goodbye first."

Kate smiled over at him before she turned her attention back to the water. "You're sure you have to do this?" she asked, her tone hopeful.

"He's my brother, Kate," Dean explained to her. "I've been looking out for him since he was six months old. I'm supposed to just leave him out there now? Because he's lost?"

Kate shook her head around a sigh as understanding flooded her features. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I'll be as careful as I can," Dean told her as he stood back up. He offered her a hand and helped her stand up with him, waiting as she dusted the sand off of her clothes. "Do me a favor. Try and keep Red, over there, out of my tent. It would suck to get back with Sam and have to build a new one."

Kate glanced over her shoulder to where Dean had indicated, her face scrunching when all she saw was Sawyer sitting down the beach as he read a book. "Sawyer? Why'd you call him Red?"

"Man that knows how to get things," Dean explained to her. "Although, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Red never resorted to looting to get those things." He looked down at her with a smile as she shrugged her shoulders. "Seriously? Haven't you ever seen The Shawshank Redemption?"

She shook her head with a laugh as Dean threw his arms up in exaggerated exasperation. "How long have you been on this island?"

"Same as you smartass," she answered him. "But, if it's good enough to get a reaction like that out of you, I'll make it a priority for when we get rescued."

"Yeah, right behind taking a hot shower and eating a large steak," Dean told her with a smile. "You'll watch my tent?"

"I'll watch your tent," she agreed with a nod. Her smile faded as she reached forward and engulfed Dean in a giant hug. He stood shock still for a few moments before it wore off and he wrapped his arms around her. "Remember, you promised me that you'd be as careful as you can." She reminded him as she stepped away from their hug.

"That I did."

* * *

The small rays of light bursting through the tree's natural canopy flickered, in patches, onto Dean's face, half waking him from his uncomfortable sleep. After saying his goodbyes to Kate the previous day, he'd managed to get a good head start on the setting sun and hike several miles inland from the beach.

Once visibility had started to wane, he'd stopped for the night, made a campfire, laid out his makeshift bedroll and then spent a few hours carefully examining the text in his father's journal. He'd been dismayed when nothing in the journal's contents had identified the noises from that first night on the beach.

_It doesn't matter, _he thought as he stood up and stretched out all the kinks sleeping on the ground had given him. He smiled confidently at his bag, knowing his machete, shotgun and several other weapons were nestled inside, waiting to be used.

He kicked around at the few glowing embers that remained of his campfire before he sat down on a dead log and dug around in his bag for a piece of the fruit he'd packed. His hand grazed against something smooth as he pulled out a pink fruit with a grimace. Right about now, he'd trade any chance at rescue if that piece of fruit would just turn itself into biscuits with sausage and gravy instead.

"Oh well," Dean murmured, still shooting daggers at the fruit. "I'm a growing boy and I need my strength." He bit into the fruit, growling as juice ran down his chin while the tart meat made him grimace even more. If he didn't need the strength for his upcoming hike, he'd put a bullet through the rest of his breakfast.

He grunted in disgust as he took another bite, chewing the tangy substance until it was ground enough for him to force down his throat. "I better catch a fat ass steak for lunch," Dean commiserated.

He turned his attention to the clearing where he'd set up camp the previous night as took another bite, studying what had been covered in darkness. He wished he knew how far he'd managed to travel yesterday, but he could only guess.

After he took the final bite of his meal, he chucked the pit into the bushes next to him. His eyes narrowed as it hit a brightly colored piece of cloth before falling to the ground. "What the hell?" he murmured as he got up and closed the distance to the bush.

An old doll with a painted smile stared up at him, its plastic arms outstretched as if asking to be picked up. _That's not wreckage_, Dean thought, immediately knowing that no mother would allow their child to play with something so old and delaminated. This doll had to have been in those bushes before their plane had even crashed.

He reached out and touched the stingy fabric, wanting to make sure he wasn't hallucinating again before he gingerly picked it up. He almost dropped it as a wire pulled from the doll's back, throwing off his grip on it. "Why the hell would a…"

_THWACK_

Dean lurched forward, barely catching his balance as he let out an agonizing breath. He looked down at his right shoulder, only just able to keep the fruit he'd just eaten down as bile wrenched up his throat at what he saw. An arrow stuck out of the front of his shoulder, coated in his blood. He dropped the doll and collapsed to his knees, the pain exploding as he felt his own blood begin to run down his skin under his t-shirt.

"Help me."

**Author's Note: Words cannot express how difficult it was to bend this story into seven days of Dean not leaving to go find Sam. Hardest challenge ever! We all know that the tailies don't meet up with our regular characters for 48 days and I refused to change that fact, but this is Dean Winchester! He sold his own soul to bring his brother back to life. I hope everyone likes where I took this and understands that this was the hardest chapter I've had to write, yet. For some reason, it took me about four re-writes to actually like what was unfolding, but after all those rewrites I ended up with this and I'm pretty pleased. Also, my reviews! WOW! You guys are amazing! I write this story to relieve the normal everyday stresses in my life, and to have the kind of feedback I've been getting…I'm very appreciative! I'm trying to get better with updating more, but please bear with me if I have another chapter that taunts me as this one did. Please keep reviewing and I'll keep posting! Big thanks to you all! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Supernatural or LOST.**

Dean shuffled through the forest as he cradled his right arm against his chest with a grimace. With every step he took, the pain that radiated out of his shoulder shot through to his entire body. He'd had plenty of bad injuries in his life, but this was a pain like he'd never felt. It had gotten so bad that his mind was consumed with it, his internal compass so thrown off that he wasn't even sure which direction camp was. Thank god his dad wasn't here to hurl wounded pride into the mix.

It wasn't the most vivid memory, thanks to his current situation, but he could vaguely recall one year in which John had veered him and Sam away from hunting techniques to teach them proper tracking. It had ended up being more grueling than their regular lessons and he was man enough to admit that it was something that Sam had been better at. Of course, he hadn't been terrible at it. Just less than…not that it mattered now.

"Maybe if dad had put a freakin arrow in my shoulder before teaching us how to track, I'd be able to focus better," Dean hissed out. He'd already been walking for hours and didn't know if he was any closer to getting back to camp than when he'd started.

He stopped his movement with a heavy sigh and looked up at the sky, slightly panicked as he noticed that the sun had already begun its descent from its highest point. It was well past noon, probably past three o'clock. He'd been at this for several hours and he still had no idea if he was headed in the right direction.

"Son of a bitch," Dean hissed, wincing as he jostled his injured shoulder. "Alright, since I'm royally screwed, this is me officially asking for help," Dean shouted at the sky. "That's right, you non-existent sons of bitches," Dean began. "Are you happy? Is this what you wanted? For me to be so desperate that I'm actually asking the very presence that allowed our plane to crash to help me out?"

Dean waited a moment, listening as the wind rustled a few of the plants around him before he snorted at himself and smiled sarcastically up at the sky, silently thanking them for confirming his suspicions. He stood straight up as his ears picked up a small whistling sound. He listened harder and turned to his right to see a trail of smoke accompany the whistling. He followed its trail with his eyes as it crawled farther up towards the sky before it exploded in a brilliant pink light.

"What the…"

Dean's head whipped to the left as an identical whistling noise signified another smoke trail that ended in fireworks. He could only assume that it was a few miles from the first one. "Holy shit, somebody had to make those…"

His attention shifted directly in front of him as another flare exploded several miles away. He stood still and waited a few moments for any more to go off as he followed all three of the fading smoke trails with his eyes. He quickly realized that he was standing in the middle of all three flares and that the first two happened to be farther away than the last one, which was closest to the setting sun's trajectory.

"_I'll be fine, honey. Just gonna sit and watch the sunset."_

"Rose was facing the water while she watched the sunset," Dean recalled in an awed whisper. "Her back was facing camp." He smiled for the first time since the damn arrow had pierced his skin, resisting the urge to pump his fist. The smile disappeared as he sneered up at the sky with a grimace. "I hope you know that this doesn't mean I believe in you," he shouted as he took a shuddering breath and began his hike towards the last explosion.

The only thing he could manage to do while he had to put literal thought behind each step he took was to stare straight ahead at the setting sun, unwilling to let it out of his sights.

* * *

Dean was disappointed when the sun's light finally faded as it set behind the tree canopy completely. The feeling in his fingertips had gone from tingling to numb and his body felt like he'd been hauling two hundred pounds with him. "I'm screwed if I don't get back soon," he whispered, sparing a withered glance at his shoulder.

_He's hurt._

Dean stopped walking at the voice he'd just heard, barely a whisper, but so close to his ear that he should have felt the speaker's breathe. He spared a glance over his shoulder, his breath catching as his heart rate sped up when nobody entered his field of vision.

_What if he sees us?_

He spun around, sweat forming at his brow as shrubbery and trees stared back at him. "What the hell is going on?"

_He's already scared enough._

"Who's there," Dean hissed out as he spun back around to find more emptiness. _Ghosts?_

_Mary says hi._

_Ghosts that know my personal information?_ Dean's breathing slowed as he stepped forward, shaking his head in an effort to clear his delusions. All he had to do was get his mind under control. The arrow and subsequent walk had forced a fair amount of blood out of his body, why wouldn't he be hallucinating?

_The necklace might save her._

"Shut the hell up!" Dean shouted. He stumbled forward as best as he could while he continued to cradle his arm, panicking as he heard more whispers following behind and all around him. This wasn't delusions from blood loss, something was following him. He barely noticed as he freed himself from the tree cover, shocked the he hadn't heard or smelled the ocean while he was this close.

There was nobody on the beach. "No," he croaked out still stumbling forward. "Help." His voice hurt from lack of water and his head felt too light for it to be natural. He could just make out the outline of his tent straight ahead and wondered if it was empty or if Kate was making use of it in addition to watching it.

It took him longer than he would have liked, but he finally made it to his tent and pulled back the flap at the entrance, waiting as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The first thing he noticed was the small form huddled on a bedroll at one corner, their back facing him. "Sawyer, I told you to stay out of Dean's tent," Kate murmured, sleepily, over her shoulder. Dean moved his dry tongue around in his mouth, trying to form the words he needed before he let out a deep moan and finally fell to his knees with a shuddered gasp.

He didn't even have the strength to look up as he heard the rustling where Kate was lying followed by a horrified gasp. "Dean?"

She hunched down next to him, positioning herself so that he could see her worried eyes, grimacing as he let out a deep breath. "Kate. Please. I need help."

"What the hell happened to you?" Kate asked in a rush as she ignored his plea.

Dean's face twisted up as he rode through a wave of pulsing pain that ignited in his shoulder as she gingerly touched the arrow. He jerked away from her roughly, too roughly as he fell over and landed on his injury, an anguished yell exploding from his mouth. "Dean, I need you to hold still."

"Don't touch it," Dean managed to hiss. "Too much blood…I need you to go get Jack."

"Hey, Kate, I heard yelling. Is everything al…" Kate looked up at the tent's entrance to see Boone, his eyes wide as his question trailed off. "What the hell is going on?"

"Boone, I need you to go get Jack," Kate pleaded. "Dean's hurt real bad."

"It's too dark," Boone told her, not taking his eyes off of Dean. "I've never been to the caves in the dark."

"Get Charlie or Locke to help you," she demanded as she scooted around Dean and tried to move him over to the bed roll. She looked back up to see Boone in the same spot, unmoved, as he continued to stare down at them. "Now, damnit!"

Boone scurried out of the tent, yelling into the beach's darkness as she watched his shadow run past the other side. "Dean, I need your help," she told him, waiting until he looked up at her with clouded eyes. "I want to move you to the bedroll, but I can't lift you on my own."

"Thanks for watching my tent," Dean murmured as he shook his head at her. "You can't be too careful with Mr. Furley. He doesn't like me living with Janet and Chrissy."

Kate let out a frustrated groan as she stood up and assessed her situation from a different angle. She smiled as an idea came to her mind, hoping she had the strength to make it work. She knelt down next to Dean and gently rolled him onto his un-injured side and placed his arm away from his body so that he wouldn't fall tumble back onto his injury. After she was satisfied that he wouldn't be moving, she grabbed his bedroll and positioned it right behind him. Once she was satisfied that her plan would work, she gently rolled Dean back onto his back, smiling in triumph as his body was now arranged on the cloth instead of sand.

She knelt back down at his head and placed it in her lap, gingerly, with a wince. Oh god, he was burning up.

"Come on, Jack. I need you to hurry," she murmured out into the darkness. She stroked Dean's hair away from his sweaty forehead as he continued to mutter up at her. When he started grousing about a ceiling fire, Kate was positive that he was hallucinating rather than speaking directly to her. "It must be his fever," she deduced.

It felt like days longer before she finally saw the shadows move past the tent and smiled as Jack burst in through the entrance. He looked down at the scene before him, dubiously, before kneeling at Dean's side with a grimace. "Kate, what happened?"

"I don't know," she told him. "I was staying in here because he asked me to look after his tent for when he got back. I thought it was Sawyer coming to bug me," she told Jack.

"Hey!" She heard from the tent entrance. She looked up and just now noticed the several people crowded around and watching Jack work. She looked down as Jack shined a flashlight on Dean's shoulder, assessing it from all angles. "He wouldn't let me pull it out."

Jack let out a deep breath as he nodded his head in relief. "Based on the amount of blood he has coating his skin and clothing, this arrow's been in his shoulder for several hours," Jack told her. "I don't think it hit anything important, though. If it had, I doubt he'd have made it back to camp."

"How do you think he got shot in the first place?" Kate asked him.

"I have no clue," Jack admitted. He reached behind him for the bag he'd brought with him and rummaged around before he pulled out a pocket knife. The very pocket knife Dean had given him. "I need you to keep him still while I cut the arrow head," he told Kate.

Kate nodded her head as she placed a solid hand on Dean's uninjured shoulder and a soft hand on his forehead, still burning up underneath her skin. "Jack, he's burning up."

"One thing at a time, Kate," Jack admonished her. He softly grabbed the arrowhead and began to work the knife against it, giving Dean an apologetic look as he started groaning at the movement of the arrow.

"Can't you just break it?" Kate asked, her face a mask of sympathy for Dean's pain.

"I could, but then I run the risk of the part of the arrow I have to pull out of his shoulder being jagged and causing more damage," Jack told her as he continued to cut away. It took him longer than it should have, but he finally had a groove deep enough into the arrow that the top of it snapped away on its own without jostling Dean's shoulder.

"Alright, easy part's over with," Jack murmured as he looked up at Kate. "I'm gonna roll him onto his side so I can pull the arrow out," he told her as she nodded. "More than likely, it's gonna hurt, so I need you to keep him still."

Kate nodded quickly as Jack called Charlie and Boone into the tent. "I need you two to help me roll him onto his side."

"Sure thing," Charlie said as Boone nodded, both kneeling down and deftly rolling Dean over. "Ok, I'm doing this on three." Jack told them as he firmly grabbed onto the arrow. "One…two…" Jack quickly pulled the arrow through the other side as Dean's entire body tensed.

"SON OF A BITCH," Dean yelled. He could feel his limbs shake against his own control before the pain melted away and he succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

Dean let out a deep moan as he slowly opened his eyes. He waited for his senses to come back to him as his nose picked up saltwater and his ears picked up someone's light breathing. It was dark, where ever he was, but he could make out a sliver of bright light across from him. _Oh god, is that THE light?_ "Am I dead?" he moaned out.

"Please," a voice chimed in from his side. He turned with a grimace to find Kate perched a few feet away from him as her eyes scanned the pages of a dilapidated magazine. "You survived a horrific plane crash and then ask that question after being shot with a tiny little arrow? What a wuss," she deadpanned before she looked up at him with a witty smile.

It all came back to him now, the doll in the foliage with the wire attached to the back of it. The faint whistling sound that the arrow had made before it had connected harshly with his shoulder. He looked down at the dressing covering his shoulder and gingerly poked at it with a wince. "Yeah, it took about twenty two stitches to close you up," Kate chimed in. "You might not want to poke at it until you're a little more healed."

"Thanks, Nurse Ratched," Dean hissed as he scooted down on his bedroll so he could push himself into a sitting position. He didn't know exactly how long he'd been out, but he guessed that it had been all night thanks to the sliver of light that had entered his tent. He set his good hand flat onto the ground next to him and pushed down with a grunt as he, slowly, sat his body upright. Kate threw down her magazine and scurried to his side to help him get situated.

"I got it," he hissed out as a bead of sweat trickled past his temple. Kate smirked as she held up her hands in surrender and backed away to allow Dean to handle his movement on his own. She watched as he stayed in his current sitting position and rotated his injured shoulder up and down a few times with a scowl. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost twelve hours," Kate told him as she shrugged off his bewildered expression. "You stumbled into camp last night with that arrow pinned into your shoulder. After you passed out, I sent Boone to go get Jack and he patched you up the best that he could."

Dean shrugged his over shirt off completely to get a better look at how far the dressing had been applied before he looked back up at Kate, giving her a smirk at her pink tinted cheeks. "When you say 'best he could,' what do you mean?"

"Well, you were burning up. I didn't know what to do, but after Jack got the arrow out of your shoulder, he said that the fever was probably due to your body trying to fight off infection, especially since he didn't know how long that arrow had been in your shoulder," Kate explained to him as she retook her seat on the other end of the tent. She picked her magazine back up and placed it in her lap, not opening it as she looked back up at him. "Jack didn't have any strong antibiotics to help you out, so all he could do is clean your wound, sew it up and wrap it."

Dean nodded his head as he continued to move his shoulder slowly, now rotating it in a complete circle. A new wave of pain accompanied this action that shot through his arm and into his chest which immediately forced him to stop and tack on a mental reminder to not try that again in the distant future.

"Any idea why my mouth tastes like ass?" Dean asked as he moved his dry tongue around in his mouth with a frown. He looked up at Kate's sheepish expression while she handed him a bottle of water. "I kinda came up with the idea to force-feed you one of the tiny bottles of Jack Daniels that Sawyer was hoarding from the plane's drink cart."

Dean appraised her with an impressed grin before he uncapped the water and took a long swig. He let out a refreshed and satisfied gasp as he swallowed his drink. "How'd you talk Sawyer into giving up some of his stash?"

"I really don't wanna talk about that right now," Kate told him with a frown.

Dean smirked as he put the cap back on his water bottle and set it down next to him. He stared back down at his dressing and poked at it again, wincing at the familiar wave of pain. "Hey, what did I just tell you about...?"

"WHERE IS IT?"

Dean looked up at the tent's ceiling and around before his eyes shot to the back of his tent. He glanced over at Kate, her eyes wide as she stared in the same direction that he was. "Is that Jack?"

"Sounds like him," Kate agreed as she stood up. "He wasn't supposed to be coming back over here to check on you for a few more hours."

Dean placed his good hand down and used his body's weight to push him onto his knees. He grunted against a wave of nausea as he placed one foot solidly on the ground and pushed himself into a standing position, grimacing as those simple actions took away all of his energy. "It doesn't sound like I was the reason for him to be on the beach," Dean told her as they heard another voice chime in.

"Sawyer," they both commiserated at the same time.

"You attacked a kid for trying to help his sick sister!" They heard Jack yell followed by heated mumbling. Dean threw a puzzled look at Kate who only shrugged.

"I'm not sure what's going on, I've been here with you all morning," she told him.

They listened as barbs were thrown back and forth for a few moments before their voices became even more escalated. "GET UP!" Jack yelled.

"You sure you wanna make this your problem, doc?" They heard Sawyer answer him.

"I'm going out there," Dean told Kate who raised her eyebrows at him.

"Are you sure you're ok to move around?" Kate asked Dean as she followed behind him. He slammed his eyes shut as the sunlight assaulted his vision while he nodded his head. "I'll be fine, Kate," Dean told her as he slowly opened his eyes to adjust them to the light. "I've never been that good with just sitting around and waiting to heal."

Kate nodded her head with a smile as they rounded his tent and saw Sawyer getting up from his seat slowly as he and Jack continued to stare each other down. "This doesn't look good," Dean whispered to Kate.

"Hey," Kate interrupted, loudly, from his side. "What's going on here?"

They both turned and looked in their direction, Jack's face scrunched up in frustration while Sawyer threw Kate a cocky smirk. Jack shook his head in disbelief as he stomped away from Sawyer and stopped in front of Dean. "Should you be up and walking around?"

Dean rolled his eyes as he fixed Sawyer with a warning look before he motioned with his head for Jack to follow him. Jack nodded at him as they both walked back the way Kate and him had come as Kate remained a few moments before she caught up with them.

"You're sure you don't feel feverish, anymore?" Jack asked as he placed his hand on Dean's forehead. Dean smiled as he fought against pulling away from Jack and shook his head instead. "Aside from the blinding pain that getting shoulder banged by an arrow caused and being a little energy sapped, I'm fine."

Jack gave Kate a weary look as Dean rolled his eyes. "Ok, maybe not fine, right now. But, I will be fine provided that I'm not cooped up in a tent until this heals," he told them as he indicated his wrapped up shoulder. He waited for Jack to nod his acceptance before Dean motioned back to Sawyer. "By the way, what the hell's going on with you two?"

"Just typical Sawyer being Sawyer," Jack told him with a scowl. "I swear I'm gonna kill him."

Dean chuckled as he shook his head in disbelief. "It only took one day of me being gone for Sawyer to inspire homicidal rage from our dear doctor, here," Dean joked to Kate as she rolled her eyes around a smile.

"Trust me, this has been brewing for a lot longer than that," Jack corrected him.

"Care to tell us why you wanna kill him so badly?" Dean requested as he moved his shoulder back and forth with a wince.

"Shannon has asthma," Jack told them both, smiling ruefully at their twin perplexed expressions.

"Ok, and…"

"And, her inhaler just ran out. Boone told me that he packed refills, but that they were in his checked bag which he's sure that Sawyer looted." Jack explained.

"How, exactly, does Boone know that Sawyer has the inhalers?" Dean asked. "That's a pretty huge thing to just assume."

"Boone saw Sawyer reading a book that was also in Boone's bag," Jack summed up. "This morning, I had to treat Boone after Sawyer beat the crap out of him for snooping around in his 'stash.' That combined with him deliberately being obstinate about the whole issue…like I said, I'm gonna kill him."

Kate glanced over at Dean with a weary expression as he shook his head around a one shouldered shrug. "That's not gonna help us get the medicine," she chimed in, brushing off Jack's anger.

"Maybe not, but it'll feel good," Jack argued, his temper rising again.

"So, then, what's stopping you," Kate asked, her frustration growing to match Jack's. Dean smirked at the two of them, Kate with her petulant expression as she stared down Jack, whose face was pinched in frustration. Jack chuckled sarcastically as he looked from Kate's set expression to Dean's amused one. "We're not savages, Kate," he informed them both. "Not yet."

"How poetic of you," Dean sniped.

"Look, let me talk to Sawyer," Kate requested. Dean smiled down at her, well aware that she hadn't actually made a request rather than informed them both of what she planned to do about their current situation. Shannon may have bugged the hell outta him, but Dean was sure that nobody deserved to die slowly from asphyxiation.

"What makes you think he's gonna listen to you?" Jack asked genuinely.

Dean blinked over at him as he held back a knowing chuckle. How was it possible for a person that was smart enough to be a surgeon in real life and be considered a leader in this crap circumstance be so damn stupid? "Dude, have you seriously not noticed the hard-on that Sawyer's been sporting for Kate? I'd bet good money that if anyone could get through to him, it'd be Kate."

Jack's jaw tensed as he looked over at Kate for confirmation, which she shrugged off with an unimpressed expression. "He says we have a connection." She told them.

Jack laughed as he turned back to Dean, his smile fading at the serious yet disgusted look on the younger man's face. He turned back to Kate, her expression still nonchalant. "Do you?"

"Please…" she answered him, her face trying to show how absurd and disgusted that idea even was to her. Jack seemed to accept that while Dean noticed her slight waver. _What the hell is going on with those three? _He thought. She shook her head at the both of them before she turned around and walked back up from the direction they had just come from.

"I really don't like this idea," Jack muttered as Dean stood at his side so they could both watch her walk away.

"Of course you don't. You just sent the girl that you're secretly, but not so secretly pining for into the lion's den," Dean told him. "It can't be much worse than her having to ask the competition for a favor."

"That's ridiculous," Jack told him, shaking off Dean's statement. "Kate and I are friends. That's all."

"No, Kate and I are friends, that's all," Dean corrected him as he turned and looked him in the eye. "Look, man. I'm not the only one on this island that's noticed the love tug-of-war between you and Sawyer with Kate in the middle. Why else do you think he doesn't like you that much?"

"Because he's a jackass?" Jack offered as Kate finally disappeared from view.

"So am I, but you and I seem to get along pretty well. Could it be because I have zero interest in Kate?" Dean asked.

"I'm not fourteen, Dean. I don't care if some other guy also likes the girl that I like." Dean grinned wide almost dancing in glee as Jack shot him a bemused look. "What?"

"You do realize you just admitted that you like her, right?" He asked. He watched as Jack replayed his words in his head before wincing.

"You really are a jackass," Jack told him, annoyed amusement in his tone.

"Yeah, I'm also an Aquarius, Captain Obvious," Dean responded. He looked back towards the direction Kate had disappeared as his smile faded. "Have you thought about what you're gonna do if Kate can't get Shannon's inhalers from Sawyer?"

"I'm not sure I want to," Jack admitted to him with a shrug. He rubbed at his eyes in frustration before his hands slid down his face as he let out a deep sigh. "I guess I should get back to the caves so I can check on her."

Dean nodded his head. "Do you need some help?"

"No, I need you to go rest up a bit," Jack told him. Dean gave him an irritated look as he opened his mouth to argue before Jack held up a hand to stop him. "Look, I'll admit that you're damned lucky that your fever's left as quickly as it did, but you did manage to lose a lot of blood. I know you think you're superman, but you're not."

"Ouch," Dean told him with a scowl.

"I mean it, Dean. I was already a little freaked about you being gone and me not having anybody to help out if there was some kind of emergency. Now that you're back, I need you to make sure you get your energy back up in case I end up needing help with Shannon."

"I thought you said you didn't know what you were gonna do about Shannon," Dean pointed out.

"I don't," Jack told him with a grim look before he turned and walked towards the tree line. "Hey," he called out before he left completely. "Can you do me a favor and watch out for Kate while Sawyer's around? I don't trust him."

"Dude, I already do that," Dean admitted to him with a smile. He watched as Jack nodded his appreciation with a smile before he faded into the treeline. Dean shook his head as he let out a comfortable breath of air. "Why do I get the feeling that this day is only just getting started?"

He shook his head in disbelief as he made his way back to his tent. He knew that Jack was right about his energy, even if he was reluctant to admit to it. As he reentered his tent and took a seat on his bedroll, his thoughts drifted back to his brother. He hadn't even been gone for an entire day in that jungle before he'd been injured. By a man made booby-trap, no less.

"What the hell kind of island did we crash onto?" He asked into the darkness.

* * *

Dean had known when he took his seat in his tent that sleep wouldn't be easy to come by. The pain in his shoulder aside, he was too keyed up to try and relax. "I guess I should take a walk, try to work out some of this excess energy," he murmured to himself. He hadn't even gotten to his knees when he saw Charlie stomp past the opening to his tent in a hurry. He tilted his head in confusion before he realized that it would be nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't Kate. "Hey, Charlie. Wait."

He could see Charlie's shadow against his tent's fabric as it stopped quickly and backed up to the opening. He poked his head in with a look of calm frustration. "Dean, hey. It's not a good time right now."

"Yeah, this whole camp seems to have developed a social life during the day and a half that I was gone," Dean informed Charlie as he slowly positioned himself onto his knees.

"That's right, the shoulder," Charlie motioned to Dean's injured side. "I have to say, mate. You look much better than you did last night."

"Thanks to you, I'm told," he said. Charlie tilted his head in curiosity as Dean smiled wide. "Apparently you and Boone were the ones that went and got Jack so he could patch me up."

"Oh that. Yeah, don't mention it. It turns out that Boone hadn't had the privilege of the caves yet and he needed someone to show him the way," Charlie told him as he stepped away from the entrance with a nod.

"Hey, wait," Dean yelled around a laugh. He could hear as Charlie let out a deep huff and leaned back into the tent. "Yeah?"

"Dude, you seem like you have somewhere to be. I didn't know we were up to the point of making appointments on this island."

Charlie tightly smiled at him as he shook his head at Dean's statement. "No, I don't have anywhere to be, I'm just looking for something."

"What?"

Charlie let out a deep breath as he entered the tent fully and took a seat in the sand. "Well, you know Claire, right?"

"Yeah, the pregnant chick," Dean told him with a nod. "What about her?"

"Well, I'm trying to convince her to move down to the caves with me," Charlie told him. "I mostly just think it'd be safer for her to be closer to Jack since she looks like she's getting close to going into labor."

Dean threw him a look that he hoped told Charlie that he didn't know where he was going with this information. "And you wanted to find her a realtor before she made that decision?"

"Hilarious," Charlie told him dryly. "We all really missed that wit while you were gone. No, we got to talking about things we missed and she commented that all I was listing was food, which I thought was weird because she's the pregnant one, you know?" Charlie waited as Dean nodded, his eyes narrowed as he tried to follow the arc of this story. "Anyways, I asked her if she ever got any cravings, you know, because of her condition."

"Yeah, I kinda got that."

"Right, of course," Charlie bemused. "Anyways, she told me that she was probably the only Australian that loved peanut butter. And like a bloody git, I promised her that I could find some."

Dean chuckled as Charlie finished his story just now realizing that Jack, Sawyer and Kate weren't the only people involved in a love entrapment on this island. "So, what you're telling me is that you promised to find her some peanut butter. And, in return, she'd agree to move up to the caves with you."

"Right. I think she agreed because she knew I wouldn't have any luck on this damn island. There aren't even any airline peanuts left for me to crush up and make into peanut butter," Charlie whined.

Dean chuckled again, his laughter growing a bit as Charlie glowered at him. "I'm glad my misery is so amusing to you."

"Misery?" Dean asked, still laughing. "Your current problem consists of you not being able to find any peanut butter and you're calling that misery to a guy that just walked back into camp with an arrow in his shoulder."

"Apples and oranges," Charlie reasoned with him.

"Right, apples and oranges." Dean shook his head as a thought entered his mind. He held up his hand to Charlie as he pulled his large bag close to him and rifled through it, smiling as he found what he was looking for. "Look, I like you Charlie."

Charlie tilted his head nervously at the excited look Dean was throwing. "Uh, thanks? I like you too?"

"Not as much as you're about to," Dean told him as he pulled out a large, clipped red bag and threw it at Charlie with a smile. Charlie caught the bag deftly and turned it over so that he could read the label before his eyes grew wide.

"Is this what I think it is?" Charlie asked with a smile.

"If you think its Peanut Butter M&Ms, then yes," Dean told him. "I bought them in L.A. before we left for Sydney and forgot about them until now. They're all yours if you want them."

"I didn't even know they made these with peanut butter," Charlie whispered in awe.

"I think it's only an American thing," Dean told him with a shrug, wincing as he jostled his shoulder.

Charlie ran forward and crouched as he engulfed Dean in a giant hug, immediately regretting it as Dean let out a loud shout. "Ow…damnit, Charlie. My shoulder."

"Oh, right, sorry mate. It's just…wow. This is amazing. She isn't gonna believe this! I hardly believe it!"

"Don't mention it man, call us even for you getting Jack to me before I bled out," Dean told him, holding his good hand over his bad shoulder with a wince. He smiled up at Charlie as the British man stayed rooted to his spot. "Don't you have a chick to impress? Go!"

Charlie smiled brighter as he turned and dashed out of the tent, almost running into Kate as she entered. "What's his deal?"

"Nothing, he's just trying to figure out a way to trick Claire into asking him to the island's Sadie Hawkins dance," Dean told her with a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I wanted to come by earlier, after I got done talking with Sawyer, but I figured you could probably use some sleep," Kate explained to him as she reached her hand out so she could help him stand.

"I forgot that you went to talk to Sawyer. Did he give you the inhalers?" Dean asked as he grabbed her hand and used it to hoist himself into a standing position.

"No, of course he didn't," Kate told him. "He tried to barter with me for them, but by that point, I didn't even want to hear his voice anymore."

"What a tool," Dean commiserated. "I mean, trust me when I say that Shannon is annoying as hell, but not even I would stand by and let some kid's lungs shut down."

Dean stretched as best he could with only one good arm before turning to Kate with a lazy smile. "Feel like taking a walk? I have a serious case of cabin fever creeping up on me."

"Lead the way," Kate told him with a flourish. Dean chuckled as he walked past her out of the tent and stood to wait as she exited and fell into a comfortable speed right next to him. "I wonder what's gonna happen if they don't get the inhalers from Sawyer?"

Dean looked down at her, shaking his head uncertainly. He opened his mouth to answer before stopping cold, his eyes going wide. Kate continued walking, only stopping a few steps ahead of him when she realized he wasn't with her. She turned to him, her smile fading at the look on her face. "What?"

Dean didn't answer as he stalked forward, his mind working into overdrive at what he saw. "Hey, what the hell is going on here?"

Jack and Sayid rushed past him, half carrying and half dragging an unconscious Sawyer with them. They ignored Dean as they kept going, their pace sped up. "What are you doing?" Kate asked behind him, her tone shocked and scared.

When she got no answer, Kate ran behind them, catching up immediately and walking sideways with them. "JACK?"

"This is Sawyer's choice. Not mine," Jack told her as they continued to walk away from camp. Dean watched Kate as she stopped walking, her face slack in shock at Jack's tone.

"IF YOU DO THIS…" she trailed off as she watched them continue to carry Sawyer away, not paying her threat any mind. "This is getting ridiculously out of hand," she murmured over her shoulder as she felt Dean stop behind her. "What do you think they're gonna do to him?"

"I think it's pretty obvious what they're gonna do to him," Dean told her grimly. "I wish I could say that I didn't agree with this, but Shannon could die from Sawyer's bullshit."

"So you think that it's ok for them to hurt him to get the information they want out of him?" Kate asked incredulously as she spun on him.

Dean held up his hands in surrender as he shook his head. "I didn't say that. I, actually, don't agree with torturing another human being. However, that's exactly what Sawyer's doing to Shannon by keeping her inhalers."

Kate's face screwed up in pain as she looked away from him, the disgust clear on her face. She marched past him, her stride determined as she shook her head. "I still can't believe that Jack, of all people, would resort to this. We're not savages, my ass."

"Why?" Dean asked as he followed behind her. "Because he saves people? Kate, that's what he trying to do here. Sometimes you have to back away from the black and white of the world and look at the gray."

"This is the gray? Torturing somebody?"

"It doesn't get much grayer than deliberately hurting a human being to help another." Dean admitted to her.

"Why do you keep calling him that? Human being. Do you think this would be different if it were an animal?" Kate asked as she stopped outside of Dean's tent.

_Or a spirit. Or a demon. Or monster, _Dean mentally interjected as he walked past her into his tent. He smiled as she took a seat in the tent, with him, as he sat down gingerly.

They sat in silence for several long moments, both lost in their own thoughts before Jack came barreling back into Dean's tent, his face oozing guilt as he let out several deep breaths.

"What did you two do?" Kate asked, venomously, as she stood up.

"What we had to do," Jack told her, his tone matching hers.

"So, he gave up the inhalers?" Dean asked hopefully.

"No," Jack deflated. "He said he'd only tell you." He looked, pointedly, at Kate as her eyes grew wide. "Me? Why me?"

"Maybe it's that connection you two have, working against us," Jack snidely suggested to her. Kate's eyes dimmed as she narrowed them at Jack and shoved past him. She stopped right outside of Dean's tent and spun back around, her face and tone full of malice. "You think you'd mind showing me where you and Sayid decided to leave him while you were playing Lando Calrissian to his Han Solo?"

Dean let out a deep laugh at Kate's reference, immediately squashing his mirth at Jack's look. "I know, Jack, and I agree. Lando only captured Han Solo; it was Darth Vader that tortured him. You gotta remember that she's just a girl, and they never get Star Wars references right, so cut her some slack."

Jack rolled his eyes as he stomped out of Dean's tent to direct Kate to Sawyer. "Geez, maybe I would have been better off in the booby-trapped jungle."

* * *

"I can't handle the drama that has engulfed this island since we've crashed," Kate said as she stopped next to Dean and stared out at the ocean with him.

Dean smirked down at her as he took in a deep breath of the ocean air. "I can't believe you're just now saying that. I've been a little sick of the drama going around since the second day of us being here." He watched as Kate grunted with a nod of her head as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Gonna tell me what happened?"

"Sawyer didn't have the inhalers. He'd been screwing with us the entire time," Kate told him begrudgingly.

"He what?" Dean thought on her words for a moment before his face turned red from anger. "Why the hell would he make us all believe that he had them? We could have been looking for the inhalers this entire time."

"I know that, Dean." Kate admonished him. "Trust me, karma caught up to him when he and Sayid got into a fight and Sayid managed to plunge a knife into an artery in his upper arm."

Dean's head spun towards Kate so fast he almost got dizzy. "You see what happens when you're injured and trying to take it easy? You miss all the good shit." He let out a deep huff as he turned back towards the ocean. "Is he ok?"

"He will be. Jack fixed him up before he headed back to the caves to check on Shannon," Kate told him. "Still, Sawyer has got some serious issues that I don't even want to get into right now."

"Couldn't tell at all," Dean scoffed with a smirk. They stood together, in silence, doing nothing but watching the ocean before Sayid walked across their paths, both of them following him with their eyes. They both turned to each other with questioning looks before Dean gave her a one-shouldered shrug.

"Sayid!" Kate called. At her call, Sayid stopped walking and let out a deep breath before he turned in their direction and walked back to them. His gaze remained fixed on the ground in front of him for several moments before he looked up at them, sadness and regret clouding his features.

"I can't stay here," he calmly informed them.

"What?" Kate began.

"I'm leaving," he cut in for her. "I don't know for how long."

"As in…leaving the beach?" Dean asked.

"Yes," he told him with a nod of his head.

"Sayid, you can't," Kate told him from Dean's side. "We don't know what's out there."

"We have a better clue, though," Dean told him, indicating his shoulder. "Trust me, when I tell you that I've been hard-core trained to watch out for myself and this came out of nowhere."

"I have worse things to fear than what's in the jungle," Sayid told them both. "What I did today…what I almost did. I swore to do never again. If I can't keep that promise, I have no right to be here."

"That's a little harsh, Sayid. You were doing what you thought you had to do. What none of us could step up and do," Dean told him.

"Besides, there's nowhere else to go," Kate told him.

"Someone has to walk the shore and map the island. See what else there is," Sayid told them. "I can't think of a better person to do it than the only one I trust."

Dean gave him an understanding look while Kate's remained worried and skeptical. "I hope we meet again," Sayid told them both. "Please take good care of yourselves in my absence."

Dean smiled at him as he reached his good arm out. Sayid complied with a small smile as he took Dean's offered hand and shook it. He took Kate's outstretched hand, afterwards, and placed a chaste kiss on the top.

They both remained in their spots as they watched him walk away. "I hope he's gonna be ok," Kate whispered. Dean nodded his head, hoping the same, but all too aware of the things he could run into while he was away from camp.

**Author's Note: I am OFFICIALLY done with chapter eight! YAY! Unfortunately, it took me two months to get this done, which I am so sorry for. I have recently been given a case at work that has CONSUMED my personal life. Now that it's winding down, I expect that updates should be coming in at a quicker rate. I wanna give a shout out and thanks to my sister, Skedes, who is a LOST maniac and checks my characters and situations for authenticity before I post. She's the LOST expert in this household, I'm the Supernatural one. I'd also like to thank those people that sent me personal messages to coax me into getting this done sooner. You guys are the reason I enjoy writing this story so much! Your kind words keep me going! Also, if anyone has gotten upset that Sam is few and far between, he will be featured in the next chapter, prominently. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Supernatural or LOST.**

Sam stood as rigid and still as he could ever remember being as the cool ocean water lapped softly against his jean clad legs. All of his life, he'd had a problem with not squirming, highlighted by having spent the majority of his childhood in the backseat of the Impala. John Winchester had noticed it early on and had retained the good sense to dismiss it. Dean Winchester, on the other hand, had spent more than a decade and a half threatening his brother's person with various forms of bodily harm if he didn't remain still. Some of them were creative, some of them weren't, but most of them never made it past idle threats. Even now, at twenty three years old, his inability to keep still and ignore his bladder had resulted in his being separated from Dean.

_At least I remember the crap that dad was constantly telling me would come in handy someday,_ he told himself as he focused his attention beneath the water's surface. His eyes darted back and forth as he followed the trajectory of a fish as it swam, obliviously, in front of him. He barely let out a breath as it stopped it's movements for a moment before it swam even closer to him.

_**You have to make it think that it's safe. Make it come to you.**_

He could hear his dad's voice so clearly in his mind as he used it as an anchor to keep himself centered. One of the spears that he'd spent the previous day shaping was poised out in front of him, the sharp point almost directly over the fish. He had to stop himself from chuckling as the fish moved a tiny bit more and stopped directly under his spear and stayed there. _These are the actions of a fish that wants to be cooked for dinner_, he reasoned with himself.

He watched for a few more moments as the fish, figuratively, threw itself a housewarming party right in front of him before he slammed the spear down. A smile stretched wide across his features as he felt it thud before it hit the ocean floor. "Jackpot," he murmured as he pulled the spear free and nodded at the fish that wiggled weakly from the middle of the stick.

He shouldered his catch and turned to make his walk back up to the beach, more than impressed that he remembered how to fish without a fishing pole. Not that he'd ever had a fishing pole in his life, but he had to imagine that it was easier than having to stand in the water and wait for a fish to approach you.

If he thought back on it, Sam was amused to remember that spear fishing had come more naturally to him than Dean. "Probably because it requires some level of patience," he murmured to himself as he dropped down onto a piece of debris with a sigh. He may have grown up with the inability to sit still, but it was nothing compared to Dean's lack of patience.

Sam smiled wide as he gingerly placed his fish onto the cleanest piece of debris he had been able to find and stared it down. "You would have been a much better victory if Dean had been right next to me trying to catch his own fish," he told it.

"So, you're talking to yourself now?"

Sam jumped at the sudden voice and spun around, his face relaxing as he graced Ana Lucia with a surprised smile. He let out a playful shrug as he motioned to the empty spot next to him with his head and watched as she considered his silent offer before she relented and took the seat that he had indicated. "That's a pretty good catch you got there," she observed as she motioned to his fish.

"Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with it," he told her as he took out his pocket knife and pulled the blade away from the handle with a click.

"How'd you get it?"

Sam shrugged, unimpressively, as he motioned to the still fish in front of him with a wave. "My dad taught my brother and me how to fish without poles when we were kids. To be honest, I'm a little shocked it stuck with me all these years." He chuckled at his statement before he sank the knife into the fish, right behind its gills and sliced its head clean off.

He looked over at Ana Lucia as he heard her sharp intake of breath and snorted at her disgusted expression as she stared down at the headless fish. "He also taught me how to filet what we caught."

"I'm starting to realize that your dad wasn't the typical 'let's have a catch in the front yard' kinda dad, was he?" she smiled over at him as he grunted in agreement before sinking his knife into the fish's belly and pulling it through to the spot where it's head had been.

"Would it be a too much to hope that your dad also taught you how to make the fish you caught into sushi?" Ana Lucia asked him. He turned to her, his nose scrunched up in disgust as his eyebrows lifted in question.

"Sushi?"

"I take it you're not a fan?"

"Of raw fish? No," Sam admitted to her. "My girlfriend in college loved the stuff and was constantly trying to get me to share with her. Never could get past that horrible salty taste."

Ana Lucia nodded with a smile as she leaned back against the debris and closed her eyes against the warm sun beating down. "Well, I'm an L.A. girl and we're born to love sushi. There was a brief time that I went completely crazy because I had to give it up when I got preg…"

Sam glanced over at her as she trailed off, her eyes snapped open as they glazed and focused far away from the two of them. "Ana?" he asked as he moved to wave a hand in front of her face. She recovered with a fake chuckle and shook it off as Sam put down his knife and looked over at her closer. He hadn't noticed it before, but the usual nonchalance on her face had shifted to aggravation the entire time that they had been talking.

"Are you ok?" He wasn't a stupid person and while he had caught her slip of the tongue, he didn't want to inquire about something that she obviously wasn't comfortable talking about. No, this had to be something completely different.

She nodded over at him with a pinched smile as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly. Sam watched her for a moment, hoping that she would open up before he shook his head. "No, I don't buy it…something's bugging you. What's up?"

Ana Lucia let out a deep breath and rolled her eyes as she set her feet back down on the sand and leaned over to rest her elbows on her knees. She glanced back over at him, her features dark. "What do you think of that guy Nathan?"

Sam leaned back away from the fish he had filleted and tilted his head curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Something in my gut," she told him as she sat up straight and motioned to her stomach. "Plus, he was gone for two hours today."

Sam nodded his head as he squinted his eyes against the sun and took in what she was telling him. "By himself?" He waited until Ana Lucia nodded her head before he continued. "Did he tell you where he went?"

"The bathroom," she lifted her eyebrows at the annoyed look on Sam's face.

"Did he forget that we only leave the beach in pairs?" Sam asked.

"Apparently," she told him as she stood up from the debris and dusted off her jeans. He smiled up at her as he straightened back up and went back to work on his fish. "Maybe don't get so worked up about him slipping up, but keep an eye on him?" Sam suggested.

Ana Lucia smirked down at him as she nodded. "The keeping an eye on him thing is already taken care of," she told him. "I have Goodwin helping me out."

Sam's eyes darkened at the mention of Goodwin, but he brushed it off quickly. The last thing he needed to do was ostracize himself by revealing his distrust of people that were, so far, likeable and trustworthy to other people.

"Let me know when you're ready to cook that sucker," Ana Lucia requested as she pointed at his fish. "I heard a pig in the woods earlier, so if you get a free moment, maybe you'd like to help me catch it?"

Sam smiled up at her after he cut the rest of the fish's meat away from its skeleton. "Sure. Never was one to turn down bacon."

* * *

Dean thought that when Jack had entered his tent with a smile and a makeshift sling in his hands that he had been kidding. It didn't take him long to realize that Jack was completely serious about him wearing a sling until his shoulder heeled, and he became less convinced of his joking manner and more convinced that he was evil. And, he'd spent his entire life killing evil sons of bitches.

"Well?" Jack asked him as he gingerly pulled Dean's injured arm through the sling and gave it a satisfactory nod. Dean wanted to knock the pleased as punch smile off of Jack's face as he finally looked down at the offending piece of fabric as if it were a snake that held his injured arm immobile against his body. "Nope."

Jack's smile faded as Dean shook his head back and forth while he muttered a string of curses at the sling. "What's wrong with it?"

"Uh, let's see. It's a sling, for one," Dean countered, dismayed that he'd failed to keep the whiny tone out of his voice. He cleared his throat before he continued. "Jack, my arm isn't broken or even that badly injured…"

"You were shot with an arrow."

"In my shoulder," Dean argued back.

"Which, if you'll remember elementary school teachings, is connected to the arm bone," Jack blandly sang to him. Dean's face flushed red with anger as he stood up from the sandy floor of his tent. "It still doesn't mean that I need this sling."

Jack stood up with him and brushed off his clothes with a sigh. "Look, I'm not saying that you don't know your healing processes better than I do," Jack told him. "And, ordinarily, I'd agree with someone as stubborn as you and hand them off to another doctor, but that would be in the real world. I don't have any kind of penicillin or antibiotics here to help speed along your healing. It's a miracle, already, that you didn't develop some kind of infection when you left that arrow in your shoulder while you hiked back here. I'm not willing to take another risk like that until the stitches come out."

Dean looked back down at the sling with a groan. "I really have to wear this thing?"

"You really have to wear this thing," Jack told him. "And don't think that just because I'm at the caves and you're on the beach that you can take it off whenever you want. I'll get Kate involved in this if I have to."

"You wouldn't."

"I would," Jack told him.

Dean narrowed his eyes at Jack as he contemplated his threat. He looked back down at his arm with a frown before he nodded his head with an eye roll. "Fine, I'll wear the damn thing. But, I just want you to know that I'm not happy about it at all."

"Yeah, I'll lose sleep over that," Jack told him as he bent over and packed up his case of medical supplies. "By the way, have you seen Sawyer around?"

"He's still in his tent, licking his wounds," Dean told him distractedly. He grimaced, again, at the sling before he looked back up at the troubled expression on Jack's face. "Dude, what did you expect? You guys really did a number on him."

"I don't really wanna talk about it, alright?" Jack told him. Dean held up his good arm in surrender as he backed up towards the tent's opening.

"You don't have to worry about an attempt at a warm and gooey moment from me. I'm just warning you not to be that shocked if he doesn't welcome you with open arms, even if you are there to patch him up." He told him as they both exited his tent and adjusted their eyes to the bright sun. Jack nodded over at Dean curtly before he turned and hiked up the beach to the tent that Sawyer was staying in.

Dean took in a deep breath as he made his way over to the water troughs for a drink of water. He didn't even want to look down at the fabric on his arm that he'd been forced into wearing. What else could go wrong today?

"Nice sling, gimpy" he heard to his left.

"Spoke too soon," he muttered as he glanced over to see Shannon sitting against a piece of debris, painting her toenails. Dean shook his head with a chuckle as he realized that she was just trying to get a rise out of him. Her own personal US Weekly on a deserted island. Well, not if he had anything to say about it.

"Shannon, hey, I haven't really seen you since I got back. I guess with all the commotion going on lately, it was the last thing on my mind, but I want you to know that I did notice it. All I can say is good for you."

He watched, bemused, as Shannon's face scrunched up as she visibly worked against her curiosity to ignore his comment.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

"What are you talking about, nimrod?" She huffed out in a frustrated voice.

Dean's smile stretched further at the insult as he shrugged his good shoulder nonchalantly. "Oh, it's nothing you really need to worry about. Even after all the years that I spent watching Gilligan's Island, and it was years, thanks to the lovely Ginger, not even I was aware of how fattening coconuts can be." He watched as her eyes darkened before he leaned in closer, "it's ok, though, you wear the extra weight well."

He resisted the urge to pat her cheek sardonically as he smiled wide and turned on his heel to begin his trek away from her. He'd only made it a few feet when he heard the childish gibberish that she shouted at his retreating back, but he didn't even wave her off as he let the distance he walked be his volume button. The day was already shaping up to be better than it had begun, even if he had to move things along in his very own special Dean way to make them happen.

He stopped suddenly as he recognized the place on the beach where he and Kate had said their final goodbye to Sayid before he left. His throat burned as he hoped that his brother and Sayid would be safe in an area that had injured him.

"Well, I'll be damned," he murmured as he turned and saw her. Kate was faced away from him as she gathered up firewood and added it to a small pile under her arms. She stopped after a moment and looked out towards the beach, away from him. He followed her line of vision and tilted his head when he couldn't figure out what she was scrutinizing. "Ah hell," he muttered as he let out a deep sigh and jogged the rest of the space between them. He came to a stop next to her and looked out in the same direction, almost wondering if a man in a striped shirt and hat would come into view soon. "What are we looking at?"

He grinned as Kate stiffened next to him before she turned and graced him with a wan smile. She turned her attention back to the beach and gave him a small shrug, leaving his question still open. "Kate? You ok?"

"We shouldn't have let him go off by himself," she murmured. He turned back to the beach and watched with her.

"Sayid?"

She nodded her head in worry as she dropped the pile of wood at her feet and wrapped her arms around herself. "We should have done something or said something to stop him."

He let out a loud snort at her words as he spared her with an incredulous glance. "So, you're cool with me going off by myself, but Sayid's cause for worry…" He continued to stare out as he practically felt her eyes roll.

"If you'll remember correctly, I wasn't happy with you leaving either," she corrected him with a shake of her head. "Plus, you weren't even gone for a whole day before you came back with an arrow sticking through your shoulder."

"Yeah, keep on rubbing in that salt, Kate." Dean rolled his eyes as he glanced down at the top of the wrappings he could see under his shirt. He could feel Kate's eyes on him as he turned back over to her, his eyes brows raised. "Nice sling."

"Thanks, I hear it's all the rage this season in island fashion," he snarked back at her.

"That's not what I meant," Kate clarified. "I made that sling. For Jack."

Dean looked down at his arm and back up at her, his expression as passive as he could make it. "You mean for Jack to use in case anyone gets injured?"

"Nope," she told him, popping the 'P' in annoyance. "I made it for him, when he dislocated his shoulder," she explained.

"He dislocated his shoulder?" Dean asked in confusion. Kate nodded, meekly, as his confusion grew. "Where the hell was I?"

"In the jungle," Kate motioned towards the trees. "Getting shot up with booby trapped arrows."

Dean looked back down at Kate as she shook her head in dismay at her own words and forced a deep sigh from him. "Sayid's not going into the jungle, Kate. He's mapping the beaches. If there's anything out there that can hurt him like I got hurt, I think it'll be easier for him to spot it on his route."

He gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned with a nod before he turned back towards the beach. They continued to stare down the beach in a commiserated silence, both hoping that Dean was right about Sayid being safe.

"You guys looking for someone?" Jack cut in as he stopped in front of them. He turned in the direction they were looking before he gave them both a curious smile. "Or, just admiring the view?"

"It's been two days since Sayid took off on his own," Kate murmured, not even making eye contact with him. Dean watched as Jack's smile fell with the realization that Kate was still angry about the events that had led to Sayid leaving. "I keep looking up and thinking I'm gonna see him coming back."

"Kate, it's gonna take a hell of a lot longer than just two days to map the island," Dean reminded her.

"Besides, he'll come back when he finds what he's looking for," Jack agreed. "The French transmission…"

"He wasn't looking for anything," Kate cut in, shaking her head at his denial as she gave him a scathing look. "He went because of what happened. Because of what he did."

Jack looked down at his feet, guilt crossing his features before he looked back up at them. "It was an accident…"

"Yeah, well…accidents happen when you torture somebody, Jack," Kate informed him, sarcasm lacing her tone.

Jack looked over at Dean, begging him for help with his eyes before Dean just gave him a half hearted shrug. "Dude, you didn't see him before he left. The guy was torn up."

Jack nodded his head at the both of them in understanding before he held out his hands at his sides. "Sayid's a trained soldier, alright? He can take care of himself." He turned, reluctantly and left them as they continued to stare at an empty beach.

* * *

It had taken all of the smooth talking skills Dean had acquired during his entire life to convince Kate and her guilty conscience not to go after Jack, but he'd finally done it. _Someone seriously needs to sit those two down and inform them both that they're jonesing for each other, _he thought as he watched Kate listlessly pick up another piece of wood and add it to the pile tucked under her arm. _At least for the sake of those of us that have to deal with them._

He chuckled at the thought as he readjusted his grip on the small pile of wood he had collected, his patience depleting as he dropped another piece. "Damnit!"

It had gone this way since he had offered to help Kate gather firewood and she had glanced down at his injured arm for the tiniest of moments, which he hadn't missed. "I am capable of picking up a piece of wood and adding it to a pile," he had hissed as she held up her hands and ruefully thanked him for his offer.

"Dean, maybe you should just sit this one out until you've got two usable hands," Kate admonished as Dean threw her a contemptuous look. He rolled his eyes before glancing over at Shannon, his irritation turning into anger as she continued to read through a magazine while sunbathing.

"Hey, don't give us a hand with this or anything," he growled in her direction.

"Wasn't planning on it," she threw back, not even sparing him a glance.

Dean could feel all of the blood in his body as it pooled into his face while his anger rose. "I'll be right back," he hissed at Kate. She stood up straight with the wood in her hands and threw him a curious look.

"Where are you going?"

"To go get my knife," he told her as he stomped away. He could hear the wood she had been gathering as it hit the sand and she rushed in front of him, her hands held out to stop him. "Whoa, just calm down."

"Calm down?" Dean barked. "How the hell am I supposed to calm down when I've got a useless arm holding me back and spoiled princess brats lounging around that refuse to help out with anything," he yelled over his shoulder. Kate glanced over his shoulder at Shannon, wondering if she'd heard his outburst and decided not to tell him that he was being flipped off for his comment.

"Ok, look. Your arm is gonna take some time to heal, alright? That's outta your hands. You gotta stop pushing yourself as if you were never injured," Kate admonished him. She shook her head as Dean opened his mouth to argue. "No, you have to listen to me on this one, alright?"

She watched as the darkness left Dean's eyes before he solemnly nodded his head. "Good, now, sit down and relax while I finish gathering up this firewood. I'm almost done anyways."

Dean let out a deep huff as Kate walked back to her pile of wood and began to gather it back up while he took a seat in the sand. "Following your own sage advice?" Shannon snarked at him.

"More like thinking about how none of us really knew each other before our plane crashed. Take me for example…I could be a serial killer in the real world and you'd have no way of verifying those facts. I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't wanna piss off that kind of person," Dean told her, smiling wide as her face paled and she turned back to her magazine. He smiled up at Kate who rolled her eyes at him around a smirk as she continued her task, barely paying any attention to Boone as he approached Shannon.

"You're never gonna believe this."

Shannon looked over at Dean with a grimace before giving her brother a sarcastic smile. "You finally learned how to tie your own shoes."

"Funny," Boone commented sarcastically as he knelt down next to her. "Someone at the caves built a golf course."

Dean looked over at him strangely as Shannon let out a disbelieving laugh. "Are you high?"

"Seriously, a golf course," Boone chuckled back at her as he nodded his head. "Apparently Jack's playing with them right now." He explained.

"Jack?" Kate interrupted incredulously. Dean glanced over at her, smiling at the look of disbelief that was covering her features. He watched as she moved aside the hair covering her face before speaking again. "…is golfing?"

"It's what I hear," Boone told her with a nod and a smile.

She threw a crazy look to Dean who only shrugged as he rested most of his weight against the piece of debris behind him. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go check this out," Boone told them as he stood and walked away from them. Dean threw him a nod as he remained in his spot, more entertained to watch the disbelief still on Kate's face.

"Wait for me, bonehead," Shannon yelled after him as she gathered her over shirt and stood to follow. Dean didn't even spare her a glance as she kicked some sand his way on her exit. "Bitch," he muttered as Kate threw down the wood in her arms and approached him.

"You're coming, right?" she asked as she towered over him.

Dean glanced up at her, his eyebrows raised. "To watch a bunch of guys play golf?"

Kate nodded her head happily as Dean let out a deep sigh and held out his good arm for her to help him up. She grunted as she helped him stand and steady himself before he turned to her with a look of appreciation. "Ok, let's go check this thing out."

"I kinda can't believe Jack's just playing golf right now," Kate told him as they sauntered off in the same direction that Shannon and Boone had disappeared down.

"Boy howdy, a doctor playing golf," Sawyer interrupted them. "What's next? Cop eating a donut?"

Dean let out a deep laugh at the amused look on Sawyer's face while Kate threw him a groan, the simple request of not to encourage the southern man plain on her features. "Hey, how's the arm doing?" Dean asked him.

"Better than yours it seems," Sawyer answered. "I'm not at the sling stage yet."

"Nope, but I didn't have any arteries get ruptured," Dean threw back.

"Are you two seriously having a pissing contest over your arm wounds?" Kate asked incredulously. She laughed at the sheepish expressions both men were sending her before she shook her head and turned to Sawyer. "Are you up to coming with us?"

"Think I'll pass on that, Freckles. Not big on crowds."

"They don't seem too big on you, either," Dean commiserated. Sawyer gave him an understanding nod as he smiled back over at Kate. "No man, what I mean is that you coming with us might change that opinion," Dean told him with a shrug and a wince. "I'm, clearly, never gonna get used to this damn injury." He told Kate.

She chuckled at him with a cringe before she turned her attention back to Sawyer, her eyes brows raised. "Well?"

"Well what?" he asked with a grin.

She let out a deep sigh, "one outcast to another? I'd think about making more of an effort."

"That's fortune cookie advice right there," Dean told them. "You only know if you can add 'in bed' to it successfully." He watched with a smug smile as Sawyer replayed Kate's advice to him with Dean's message on the end and smiled. "Never had that complaint before."

"Dude, me neither," Dean scoffed. "But, seriously, you two ain't the only outcasts on this island. I've just managed to keep my secrets buried for the time being."

Sawyer chuckled as he shook his head in understanding, but remained in his spot. "Duly noted."

* * *

"So when Boone said that somebody had built a golf course…" Dean began as they stopped near another group of people.

"He meant that somebody had dug out a few holes and marked them," Kate explained to him.

"But, where's the big windmill and the castle and the Mount Everest that explodes?" He asked as he motioned around. He looked over at the blank expression on Kate's face before she burst into hysterics, aggravating him further. "What?"

"Dean, that's miniature golf," she clarified for him. Dean looked around and back at her, holding his arms out in question. "They're two completely different things."

"Alright then, I assume the point of this one is to get the ball in the hole, also?" Dean asked. Kate nodded her head at him as he quickly studied their surroundings. "There just aren't any obstacles?"

"Nope," Kate told him with a smile. "Just distance."

"Distance? This is crap. Anybody can hit a ball far enough away with the right club," Dean told her incredulously. "I feel like I'm eight years old all over again and I just realized that you don't get a growth spurt with each birthday."

"Stop being so dramatic," Kate laughed. Dean grinned in her direction as he realized that her dark mood had disappeared and he couldn't help but feel responsible for helping her get through her funk. If only Sam could see him now, being nice to a cute girl that he had no feelings for whatsoever. He was getting soft in his old age.

"There's Jack," Kate pointed out. Dean followed her gaze as Jack stood completely still and stared down his golf club before he swung it back and then forward with a smile. The entire group of people grew quiet as Jack remained in his stance, his posture solid as they all watched the ball land very close to a handmade flag. "That's it?"

"That's it," Kate told him.

"Dude, I think you stuck it," Hurley commented next to them.

"Ugh, lucky lucky lucky," Charlie agreed.

"I'm so friggen lost," Dean admitted as he ran his good hand through his hair in frustration. Kate smiled wide as she nodded her head in Jack's direction. "I'll be right back."

"Whatever, go make goo-goo eyes," Dean waved her off. He nodded over at Charlie as he walked through the crowd and stopped next to him and Hurley.

"Hey, how goes the arm?" Charlie asked with a smile as Hurley rooted around in the stash of golf clubs and pulled one out. Dean rolled his eyes as he motioned to his gimp arm begrudgingly. "It's a pretty sling, though. Right?"

Charlie held up his hands as Dean growled at him, not able to contain the impish smile that spread across his face, not matter how menacing Dean looked. "When did Jack have time to organize all of this?"

Charlie and he watched as Hurley took his place on the putting area while Charlie shook his head. "Nah, this wasn't Jack. Hurley put this little thing together."

"Is that true, man?" Dean asked as Hurley took his stance. He grinned sheepishly as he nodded his head at Dean. "Well, yeah. I Figured it'd be nice to have something to do other than survive," he admitted.

Dean let out a deep laugh. "No, surviving is definitely on the backburner to golf. Think you can arrange for some windmills and castles next time?"

"That's miniature golf, dufus," Shannon told him. Dean rolled his eyes over at Charlie, who looked like he was holding back laugher while he shook his head incredulously. "You know, I'm pretty damn lucky that she's around to keep me as well informed as she is. Think she'll teach a seminar on how to avoid those pesky tan lines if a plane crash strands you on a desert island?"

"Go to hell," Shannon told him with a fake smile.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm already stuck on an island with you," Dean countered with an equally fake smile.

"Hey, I'm trying to concentrate over here," Hurley interrupted them. Dean turned back to watch him set up with a smile, only to wince as Hurley sliced the club into the grass, not once connecting with the golf ball. "I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen."

"Ah crap," he muttered. "Do over."

"It's a mulligan," Charlie corrected him. "Mulligan. It's a gentlemen's sport, you gotta get the words right."

"Gentlemen's sport?" Dean asked.

"Uh yeah," Shannon interrupted. "Golf is elite. You don't see Tiger Woods with the sort of Neanderthal behavior you seem to favor."

"Sweetheart, he's a guy and he's rich. He's probably banging a whole slew of women on the side."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Shannon told him as she rolled her eyes.

"No, you're right. What could I, a guy, possibly know about how guys think and operate," he scoffed as he watched Michael take his stance and swing his club with a groan. _Why the hell would anybody pay large amounts of money to belong to a golf club? _He thought with a grimace. Of course, if people knew about his life, they'd probably question why he did what he did.

"You look bored out of your mind," Kate commented with a chuckle as she rejoined his side.

Dean threw her an eye roll as he nodded over at the spectacle. "How could I be bored with the wonderful sport of golf and that harpy to keep me entertained?" Kate laughed loudly at the sarcasm flooding his voice, earning her a smirk. "Laugh now, Bonnie. But when Led Zeppelin comes to this island, you're buying the tickets."

"Deal," she told him with a smile and a nod. He turned his attention back to the game and tilted his head as Charlie knelt low on the ground so that he was eye level with the intended trajectory of his golf ball to the hole. He couldn't help but laugh with the rest of the group as Charlie picked at a piece of offending grass and threw it away from his ball.

"Guys, please," Charlie reprimanded them as he took his stance. "I've never made par on a course before."

Dean furrowed his brow as he leaned over in Kate's direction. "Par is the pre-determined number of strokes it should take for a golfer to complete a course," she whispered before he could even ask the question.

Dean chuckled as he shook his head incredulously. "It's a little scary that you know me this well."

"I agree," she told him as they watched Charlie tap his ball. He was amazed at how quiet the group became as they watched Charlie's golf ball roll too quickly to the hole and straight over it.

"Oh, bollocks! Did you see that?" Charlie despaired.

"Dude, you were robbed," Hurley assured him around a chuckle.

"Ok, Jack, it's up to you," Michael announced. "You sink this and you get to wear the blazer."

"You win a blazer in golf," Kate answered as Dean leaned back in.

"A blazer like a jacket?" Dean asked her. At her nod he tilted his head. "Really? After all that, all you get is something you could just buy at Burlington Coat Factory?"

Kate laughed as Jack grabbed a club and marched up to his ball. "No pressure," Kate yelled out to him with a smile. He looked back at her with a grin before he took his stance as the group got quiet again.

"Five bucks says he sinks sit," Hurley broke the silence.

"Ah, gambling. Now, this I know," Dean commented.

"Wait, you're betting against me?" Charlie whined as he stepped forward.

"Sorry, dude. You're a duffer like me," Hurley explained to him with a grin.

"Make it ten and you're on," Boone announced.

"I don't have any cash, but I'll bet my dinner on the doc," Sullivan offered.

"Hmm, dinner and ten bucks," Dean commented to Kate. "I'm one of the guys that's been doing the hunting and there's no use for the cash except as kindling while we're on this island. That just might be worth it."

"I got two tubes of sunscreen and a flashlight that says he chokes." The entire group turned to see Sawyer standing in front of them, a wry grin on his face. "Now that is a bet to mark our situation. I'll take that action, man," Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah…me too," Boone agreed.

"You just bet on Jack, dumbass," Shannon scoffed.

"We need the sunscreen, princess," Boone countered.

"Especially considering how much of the stuff Paris Hilton's going through on a daily basis," Dean added with a laugh. He ignored the finger Shannon flashed at him as he sent a friendly nod to Sawyer, which Sawyer immediately returned.

* * *

Sam snapped awake as screams filled the night's silence. He could barely see past the fire they kept lit as he felt the panic that had settled into the air even before he heard Libby yell that someone had taken the children.

He flew up and rushed past several people that were running in the opposite direction.

_When in doubt, run towards the danger._

Sam shook Dean's voice out of his head as he turned towards the direction that most of the noise was coming from and took off at full speed. He used the sounds around him as a compass until his feet collided with something big enough to send him sprawling face first onto the sand in front of him. He recovered in enough time and looked back at what he had tripped over only to watch as Ana Lucia grabbed a nearby rock and used it to hit a woman that was fighting with her.

"Hey," he yelled as he scurried up and crawled back to where she was knelt, the rock she had used to knock the woman out clutched tightly in her hand. "Are you ok?"

"This crazy bitch rushed me," she muttered, not able to take her eyes off of the woman.

"They're gone," Libby announced in a panicked voice as she stopped behind them.

"Which way did they go?" Ana Lucia demanded as she stood back up.

"It doesn't matter," Sam muttered. "It's too dark to find them and they know their way around this island better than we do."

"No, I don't buy that," Ana Lucia growled. She reached down and grabbed the woman that had tackled her and shook her roughly. "WAKE UP. WAKE UP!" She continued to yell. "WHO ARE YOU? TALK TO ME!"

Sam watched as Ana Lucia continued to try to rouse her, while the woman's weightless head snapped from side to the side. He reached down and placed two fingers at her neck, his heart sinking. "Stop. She's dead."

Ana Lucia looked over at him in shock as he gave her a grim nod and laid the dead woman down softly in the sand. "No," she hissed as she scrambled forward and began to search through her pockets hastily. "Ana, stop. What are you doing?"

She ignored him as she pulled out a pocket knife and moved it around so that the light from the fire hit it.

"Is that a knife?" Sam asked as he reached forward and took it from her grasp while she continued to search the woman. He opened up the blade and held it up better to the light, his eyes widening as they landed on the base of the blade.

**U.S. ARMY**

_Holy shit, this is a military knife,_ he thought. _How the hell did an American military knife end up on this island?_

His lowered the knife away from the light as his attention refocused on Ana Lucia as she pulled a tattered piece of paper from the woman's pants. "What is that?" Sam asked as she unfolded it. He waited as she scanned through the contents on the page, her breath hitching the further she got. "Ana, what is it?" Sam asked again.

"It's a list," she answered, her eyes closing as the tension on her face melted into anxiety.

"A list of what?" Libby asked as a throng of people gathered around them.

"Nine…" Ana Lucia told them raggedly. "…of us."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked her as he grabbed the paper from her stunned hands. His eyes adjusted enough to scroll through and read the names that were written down in neat handwriting.

"The kids are on here," Sam observed.

"Yeah, they are," she told him. "How much do you wanna bet that the other people that were taken will be on there also."

"They've been watching us," Sam observed, his eyes wide as he glanced over at the dark trees that cut the beach off from the rest of the island. "We're not safe here anymore."

Ana Lucia glanced over at him, her expression pinched with anger as she let out a deep sigh. "We were never safe here."

**Author's Note: I am so sorry that this update has taken me as long as it has. Between the last chapter and this chapter, my grandmother passed and that occupied most of my thoughts and time. I don't have a whole lot to say during this note, which is bizarre for me, but I do hope that this chapter is more liked than the last. I want to thank those readers that sent in their critiques and messages in a neutral manner and didn't flame me for leaving Dean on the beach while Sayid left. It never even occurred to me that that would be a hot button topic. Again, I want to stress that the timeline of this story will be pretty consistent with LOST, including 48 days until both camps meet up. I'm trying to make it worth the while for when it does happen. Thank you for reading and reviewing when ya'll do. It makes my day to read what ya'll think of this story.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, Alias, LOST, the Blair Witch Project or any other pop culture reference that can be traced back to a creator for the sole purpose of legal action.**

A shadow passed, casually, on the right side of Dean's tent that drew his attention away from his inventory of weapons with a deep sigh. "Hurley, I swear to god, if that's you trying to play the Blair Witch again…" Dean shouted as he replaced one of his knives in the pile he'd arranged in front of him. He glanced up at his empty tent with a cautious expression as silence greeted his almost-threat mockingly.

It took another minute of waiting before Jack poked his head in through the front opening, an inquisitive look on his face. "Blair Witch?"

Dean allowed an amused grin to consume his features as he rolled his eyes and leaned back away from his weapons. He gestured for Jack to come into his tent completely as Jack nodded with a smile of thanks. "It's actually kind of a stupid story."

Jack stopped in front of him and knelt down so he could dig around in his medical bag. "I've just spent the last several days trying to convince a man that his sand rash wasn't life threatening," he informed him as he pulled out clean dressing and antiseptic. "I'm pretty sure I can handle any amount of stupidity you throw at me."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Dean cautioned as he carefully withdrew his arm from the dreaded sling with a wince and held it out for Jack to inspect. "A little before sunset, yesterday, Hurley and I got into this huge discussion about horror movies. Well, imagine his complete shock when I tell him, not only, that I think that the Blair Witch Project was stupid, but that I didn't get scared once."

Jack looked up at him incredulously before he nodded his head with a shrug. "Yeah, I think I'd have to agree with you on that one," he admitted as he began to un-wrap Dean's shoulder.

"No offense, but you don't really strike me as a horror movie fan, crap or not," Dean told him. He smiled as Jack rolled his eyes around a grin before he continued. "Anyways, Hurley got it into his head that he's gonna prove it was a scary movie by recreating that tent scene. With mine. At night," Dean explained to him.

"Right," Jack followed. "How exactly did that go?"

Dean opened his mouth to speak before he closed it and chuckled at himself. "Look, I'm not trying to be mean, but there aren't too many ghosts that cast a shadow Hurley's size," Dean told Jack in a matter-of-fact tone. Jack stopped what he was doing and fixed his gaze up at Dean who could only shrug at his own logic. He let out a deep laugh at Dean's seriousness as he finished unwrapping Dean's arm completely. "Why do I get the feeling that's not the ending to your story?"

"Because it's not," Dean confirmed. "You see, right as I realized what Hurley was doing, I suddenly remembered why The Shining is one of my favorite horror movies."

Jack leveled Dean with a curiously amused look. "What did you do?"

"I snuck out of my tent while he was still dancing around the back and grabbed the ax out of the wood pile. By the time I got back, he'd already gone into my tent, realized I wasn't in there and was leaving just in time to see a shadowed ax wielding figure," Dean explained to him.

Jack let out a deep laugh as Dean's eyes lit up for the first time in the two weeks they had all been stranded together. He gently cleaned the stitched area on Dean's shoulder as best he could around the movements from Dean's chuckling. "I have to say, I'm glad you guys are having more fun down here than we are at the caves," Jack commiserated.

"What's the problem?" Dean asked as the amusement on his face was instantly replaced with seriousness.

"Claire," Jack admitted with a sigh. "She's getting closer and closer to her due date and now she's started having these extremely lucid nightmares that…" He trailed off as he shook his head incredulously.

"What?"

Jack let out a deep sigh as he unrolled the clean dressing and began to apply it to Dean's wound. "Apparently, she was sleepwalking. She woke us all up, early this morning, screaming like her life depended on it."

Dean nodded his head for Jack to continue as he sensed that there was more to the story than was being told. "And…?"

"And…her hands were covered in blood."

"Who's blood?" Dean asked carefully.

"Hers," Jack admitted. "It turns out that whatever she was dreaming about was so terrifying that she made fists tight enough to dig her fingernails a quarter inch into her palm."

"Ouch," Dean commented. "Is she gonna be ok?"

"I'm not sure," Jack told him. "She's barely talking, so I couldn't even get what the dream was about out of her."

Dean nodded in understanding as Jack studied the area he had just finished wrapping. "What about you? How's your shoulder feeling?"

"Pretty good, actually. I barely even notice it at all, except for the sling which constantly reminds me that I'm injured," Dean admitted with an annoyed grimace.

"Yeah, well, you're not completely healed, so I think you're gonna need that sling for another week, at least," Jack told him.

"Seriously? Jack, trust me, it's not necessary. I'm actually not even feeling any pain anymore, at all."

"Oh really?" Jack asked as he quickly poked the wound. Dean hissed in surprise as he yanked his arm away and cradled it against his chest. He shot an angry look at Jack who only chuckled at Dean's death glare. "Tell you what; just wear it for about three or four more days and we'll talk probation on your sentence. Sound good?"

"Do I have any other options?" Dean asked warily.

"Nope," Jack shook his head. "And remember, it's not just me making sure you wear it."

"Yeah yeah," Dean muttered as he pulled his arm back through the sling. "You and Kate are evil. You know that, right?" Dean hissed as Jack openly chuckled at his own antics.

"Speaking of Kate, have you seen her?" Jack asked as he stood up and shouldered his medical pack.

"She's down by the water," Dean waved him off. "Hey, if you end up mentioning this whole Claire thing to her can you not make it sound as serious as you think it is?"

"Why?" Jack asked as he lingered at the entrance to Dean's tent.

"Dude, you've met Kate, right?" Dean asked. "I'm just trying to save what's left of your sanity and mine by keeping Kate out of some of the drama around here."

* * *

For three days straight, Sam had trailed the rest of their party as they hiked through the jungle in an effort to get as far away from their cursed camp as possible. For three days straight, Ana Lucia had led them on auto pilot, like a woman possessed whose fear and sense of self preservation was quickly being replaced with paranoia and irrationality.

"I'm starting to get a little worried," Sam muttered over to Eko. He waited as Mr. Eko appraised him with a curious glance before he craned his neck in order to see Ana Lucia through the throng of other people in front of them.

"Well?" Sam asked impatiently. Eko let out a deep breath as he nodded his head over at Sam who could only narrow his eyes in suspicion at his lack of speech. "Dude, are you seriously back to not talking?"

Eko shot Sam a withering look that Sam could only interpret as frustration as he nodded his head at him. "Fine, but do you at least see what I'm talking about?" Sam asked as he motioned back up towards her.

Eko let out a deep sigh as he again nodded his head in agreement. Sam gave him a wry grin in response before he squared his shoulders. "I was gonna suggest that one of us might go talk to her, but since you've gone back to your vow of silence…" Sam trailed off. Eko nodded again as he nudged Sam forward with a grin. Sam caught himself before the nudge turned into a jungle face-plant and shot his 'hiking buddy' an annoyed look over his shoulder as he began his trek past several of the other survivors to Ana Lucia.

"Hey Sam," Libby greeted as he walked past her. Sam smiled wide as he glanced back over his shoulder at her and nodded in greeting. He turned his head back in front of him a second too late as his foot caught on a hidden root and sent him reeling forward. He scurried to catch himself before he hit the jungle floor and knocked straight into Goodwin whose arm shot out quicker than Sam could register and caught him.

"You ok?" Goodwin asked around a chuckle as he helped Sam steady himself back on his feet. What was wrong with him lately? He'd always been the tallest growing up and had managed to use his height to work for him rather than make him clumsy. Now was the moment in his life when his legs wanted to betray him?

Sam shot Goodwin a quick look before he nodded his head cagily. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks man."

"Don't mention it," Goodwin told him. Sam nodded his thanks again with a wry smile before he sped past him, half desperate to put as much distance between them as possible and the other half desperate just to check on Ana.

He continued to walk past a few of the other people as they veered away from the path and stepped down a ledge that contained a steady stream of water. He ducked past some of the foliage until he finally got to Ana Lucia who had stopped and turned to their group with a glare. He glanced back to see Nathan as he stared back at her boldly before he rolled his eyes and crouched down next to the stream to get a drink.

"Five minutes," Ana Lucia announced to those that had followed Nathan's example.

"You might wanna think about reigning in how much you make it known that you don't like the guy," Sam cautioned her as she continued to glare at Nathan.

"It's not that I don't like so much as I don't trust him," Ana Lucia admitted with a huff as she wiped away some of the sweat that was clinging to her forehead.

"Yeah, well, try not to let your distrust for him affect you so much," Sam advised her. "You have people here that wanna watch your back too."

Ana let out a deep breath as she graced Sam with a grateful smile for his words. "Ana, we've been walking for three days straight," Bernard interrupted them.

Her smile disappeared as she gave Sam a rueful look before she turned towards Bernard and the other survivors. "Yeah, well, at least you're still here," she responded.

Sam visibly winced as his thoughts were forced back to the past three days and the final attack on camp that had prompted Ana Lucia to pack everyone up and lead them away. He knew that her actions were fueled by the guilt of the whole situation and that she blamed herself for the children being taken.

"Five minutes," she reiterated to the group.

"You know what?" Nathan announced defiantly as he stood back up from the stream of water. "You wanna keep walking, go ahead. There's fresh water, a rock wall at our backs, lots of fruit trees…right here looks pretty good to me," he added as he pulled off his shoulder bag and tossed it on the ground in a clear act of noncompliance with Ana Lucia's scrutiny of him.

Sam let out a deep sigh as he glanced back at Ana warily. Her face was slack of any emotion after Nathan's outburst and he couldn't help but wonder if he should be relieved or concerned. "Ana, you don't have to…"

"Fine," she interrupted Sam with a look that told him to back off. She glanced around at what Nathan had indicated and gave them all a tight nod. "Ok. This'll work."

* * *

"Hey, dude…I just want you to know that I am about to enter your tent," Hurley announced as loudly as he could. Dean chuckled as he looked up at his tent's opening and waited a full five seconds before Hurley hesitantly poked his head inside and appraised him with a sheepish grin.

"I am about to enter your tent?" Dean asked around a chuckle.

Hurley shrugged as he remained where he was, his grin turning impish. "I kind of figured it'd be a good idea to lay off the surprises for a while."

Dean let out a deep laugh as he nodded his head at Hurley's statement. "I guess if you consider recent events, that line of thinking is smart. Did you need something?"

"Nah, just checking in to see how you are," Hurley told him.

"You mean to see if I'm pissed?" Dean asked as he stood up from his seat and stretched out his dull muscles. Hurley nodded slowly as Dean waved him off. "That was the most fun I've had since we crashed, so no worries." Hurley let out a relieved breath as his grin took on an appreciative nature. "Look, I'm actually heading outta here before I end up going crazy with cabin fever," Dean told him. He watched as Hurley processed his words before they dawned on him and he quickly backed away from the tent's opening.

Dean shook his head, ruefully, as he stepped out onto the beach and immediately shielded his eyes against the harsh sun. "I swear, I've never spent so much time, in my life, just lying around."

"Dude, I have," Hurley admitted with a smile. "By the way, how's the arm doing?

Dean glanced down at the sling with a bitter grimace as he walked away from his tent, Hurley following alongside him. "Same old shit, different day," he shrugged. "Jack was here earlier to check on it and wants me to keep the sling on for another week, which is completely frustrating since I can't remember the last time that I let an injury sideline me like this," Dean admitted. "I keep trying to tell Jack and Kate that I'm fine to take this damn thing off, but neither will listen."

"That's good, though, right?" Hurley asked. Dean threw him a withering look while Hurley graced him with an ever broader smile. "Dude, we may have all been strangers before this crash, but we're all kinda looking out for each other, now. Making sure we all stay alive, right?"

Dean mulled over Hurley's observation with a grin. He hadn't thought of it like that. Even in his regular life, he was pretty sure nobody but Sam would miss him if he went and got himself killed. Sure, his dad would stray from his revenge path for the amount of time it took to find and kill the son of a bitch that had done him in, but afterwards he'd jump right back on like nothing had happened. Like a robot. He was sure of that.

"I guess you're right, man," Dean muttered.

Hurley beamed at him before he cleared his throat and motioned to the notepad in his hands. "Speaking of watching out for each other, I'm putting together a list of everyone that's on the beach and at the caves," Hurley explained to him. "Just a way to keep track of everyone coming and going."

Dean nodded at Hurley's short explanation as he stopped and turned to face him seriously. "Ok, I guess that makes sense. What do you need from me?"

"Name?"

"Dean."

"Alright, Dean," Hurley muttered as he wrote down the information like he'd just learned it for the first time. "Uh…last name?"

"Winchester."

Hurley nodded his head as he began to write down Dean's last name before his eyes narrowed. He lowered his notepad as he looked back up at Dean with a suspicious look. "Dude, don't your luggage tags say Hetfield?"

Dean kept his features neutral as he mentally berated himself. What the hell was wrong with him? He had only been stuck on this island for a little over two weeks and he was already throwing out one of the most basic lessons his dad had taught him. Cover story. How much longer would it take before he started informing the other survivors that he'd spent his entire life hunting supernatural beings in the hopes of someday finding the thing that had killed his mother?

"Um, well…" he began as Hurley raised his chin calculatingly. Dean paused as he recognized the look Hurley was giving him from the few times the authorities had managed to catch up to him or his father. He was being sized up…by Hurley. He let out a snort as he rubbed his stubbly face with his free hand as his eyes stayed glued to Hurley's. "Why are you asking me about my last name if you already had that information from my luggage tags?"

Hurley's eyes widened as he visibly deflated for a moment before he squared his shoulders again. "Why are you giving me a last name that doesn't match your luggage tags?" Hurley shot back with a nod as a proud smile covered his face.

Dean nodded his head appreciatively at Hurley, more than a little impressed that he was able, not only, to keep up with Dean, but that he could clearly stand toe to toe with him. Still, how the hell was he supposed to answer his questions?

_**You could try the truth**__, _his brother's voice nagged at him. Geez, even his inner Sam was a do-gooder boy scout. There was no way in hell that Dean was ready to tell anybody that he had been raised to fight the Supernatural and did it. Try again, Sammy.

_**Fine then, how about just some variation of the truth?**_Dean chuckled as he realized he had no other avenues readily available to him. "Alright man, since you want to know so badly. The truth is that my dad and I perform credit card scams to get by while we travel the country doing odd jobs. That name, Hetfield, was the name of the current card that I paid for my plane tickets with."

Hurley stared Dean down, searching his face for the punch-line and nodded when he realized that he was being serious. "Dude, that was pretty honest."

"Yeah well, we're stuck on a desert island with no cops to arrest me and no jury to prosecute me. I figure my crimes probably aren't the worst that have gone down in this little group," Dean told him simply as his eyes trailed over to Kate at one of the water troughs. He smiled over at Hurley as he turned and followed Dean's gaze just as Jack and Charlie walked up to her.

"Fair enough, dude."

"I think so," Dean shrugged. "For comparison purposes, on your little list thing…any official document that links me to our flight will state Dean Hetfield. Otherwise, my name is Dean Winchester. It's a pleasure to meet you," he told him as he extended his hand out.

Hurley looked down at the offered hand warily. "Dude, I promise that credit card fraud isn't contagious," Dean told him amusedly. He smiled wide as Hurley uneasily shook his hand.

"So, wait, you travel around the country and… like… have a ton of aliases?" Hurley asked as a genuine curiosity shone through in his eyes.

"Yeah, it's something I've been doing since I was a kid," Dean admitted.

"So, um…are you like a secret agent or something?" Hurley asked as the curiosity Dean had seen moments earlier was replaced with glee. "Like Sydney Bristow or the chicks from Expose?"

"Dude, those are all chicks you're mentioning…" Dean began.

"Yeah, chicks that kick ass," Hurley corrected him.

"Be that as it may," Dean began. "I'm pretty sure secret agents have their own means of travel in order to avoid pesky nuisances like the crash of the commercial airline they're on," he pointed out.

"How would you know the preferred travel methods of secret agents?" Hurley countered.

Dean shook his head incredulously before he fixed Hurley with a crazy look. "You're gonna have a counter-argument for everything I say, aren't you?" he asked.

"What if it's like a Jason Bourne thing and you don't even have your memory and can't even remember you're a secret agent, but you have skills. I mean, you hunted with Locke…hunting's a skill," Hurley pointed out, completely ignoring Dean's question.

"Alright, we're done here," Dean told him. "Let me know if you need help, later on, with your census thing."

Hurley stared up at him in awe and nodded as Dean turned and walked over to the water troughs where Kate, Jack and Charlie were speaking grimly. "Hey, who died?"

They all turned to him, his joke clearly not appreciated as his smile fell. "Whoa…I wasn't being serious. I just meant what's going on?" He corrected himself as he held his hand up in surrender.

"Claire was attacked last night," Charlie stammered out.

"By who?" Dean asked as he lowered his hand back to his side. Jack looked down at the ground before he shook his head and began to walk away from them.

"We're not sure," Charlie answered as all three of them moved to follow Jack. "Did either of you see anyone leaving the beach last night?" Charlie asked.

"You're assuming that we keep track of everything that's going on down here," Dean glibly told him.

"He's right," Kate agreed. "I mean, people come and go, but…no, I don't know."

Charlie grimaced at the lack of information as they kept walking. Dean glanced over at Jack and noticed that his expression was tight and pensive as he looked back at all of them. "What's going on with you, man?"

Jack stopped as the attention was turned to him and let out a deep breath as he shook his head. "I didn't want to discuss this until I spoke with Claire first, but I'm not sure anything actually happened."

"Wait, what?"

Jack glanced sheepishly at Charlie's dubious expression and squirmed a bit under the scrutiny before throwing them all a patient smile. "Look, Claire told Michael and I that this attacker tried to inject her with something, but there was no mark on her stomach. She wakes up two nights in a row screaming; the first time…she was sleepwalking."

"You think she's making this up!" Charlie interjected incredulously. "She was terrified, man."

"Look, she said that this guy was trying to hurt her baby. Why would someone do that now, with all of us sleeping twenty feet away?" Jack argued.

"So, you think she's lying?" Charlie asked.

"No. Pregnant women have extremely lucid dreams. These sound like textbook anxiety nightmares," Jack calmly explained.

"Lucid, right. You know everything that's going on with everyone," Charlie accused bitterly.

"Hey," Kate reprimanded. Dean's eyebrows shot up as Jack and Charlie both stopped their arguing to turn to her, twin expressions of aggravation on their features.

"Rather than start another argument, maybe we should try to determine what we should do about this," Dean suggested as he practically tasted the tension.

"I can't believe you think she's just making all this up," Charlie snarled back at Jack.

"Man, what did I just say?" Dean huffed.

"Look, Claire's due in a little more than a week. Maybe two," Jack grimly informed them. "But, if she stays stressed out like this or has another panic attack, it could trigger an early labor. And, out here, with no instruments, no monitors, no anesthetics…" he trailed off as he shook his head incredulously. "…it would not be good."

Dean sucked in a breath as he deliberated the situation in his head. It was times like this, when something like childbirth on an island was rearing its ugly head that he was more than thankful that he was a guy. He glanced over at Kate and couldn't help but throw her a sympathetic smile at the concerned understanding on her features.

"It's not all in her head," Charlie snapped to Jack, effectively ruining the moment. He audibly scoffed before he turned and stomped away from the three of them.

"Well, it's good to know that he's focusing on what's important," Dean muttered at Jack's frustrated expression. "Please tell me you have a plan.

"I have a plan," Jack told him. "There were some sleeping pills in the stash you gave me."

"You're gonna dope her?" Kate asked. "Won't that hurt the baby?"

"They're not nearly strong enough to hurt her or the baby. I just want her to sleep one night without any dreams pushing her into a hysterical state," Jack told them.

"What happens if that doesn't work?" Dean asked dismally.

Jack fixed a concerned gaze at Kate and Dean before he shook his head with a shrug. Dean may not have been as educated as Jack, but he was pretty good at deciphering emotion and body language. They were screwed if this didn't work.

* * *

"All I'm saying is that I've known a few doctors in my time and Jack doesn't seem to possess the best 'bedside manner,'" Dean commented.

"Yeah, but you've only known him on this island," Kate pointed out as she ducked under a thick branch. "You never know, in the real world, he might be one of the most kind and sensitive doctors ever."

"I admit, this isn't the best situation to glean Jack's regular demeanor from and a little gruff is expected," Dean agreed as he followed behind Kate. "However, since we are still on this island and our situation is still the same, I have it on good authority that Jack probably screwed this whole Claire thing up."

Kate snorted as she held a thick patch of brush away from the path they were on and smiled as the cave entrance came into view. "I don't know, I think Jack might surprise you on this one."

"Wanna put a wager on it?" Dean asked as he stopped next to Kate. She turned to him with an amused smile and shrugged her shoulders passively. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Let's see," Dan began. "If I win and Claire is anything but sunshine and rainbows about Jack thinking she dreamed getting attacked, you have to convince Jack that it's time for the sling to come off," Dean told her seriously. Kate chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced down at the sling before she looked back up at Dean and nodded hesitantly with a smile.

"What do I get if I win?"

Dean made a big show out of putting thought into Kate's side of the bet before he looked back down at her with a winning smile. "If Jack managed to approach this entire thing rationally and Claire didn't freak out then you get my help going under the radar if we ever get rescued from this damn island."

Kate shook her head. "I don't know what you're…"

"I know Hurley told you," Dean interrupted her. "He thinks I'm a secret agent and keeps geeking out his theory to anybody that'll listen. Of course, he's mentioned the specifics a few times and I've had several people react differently to me since then."

Kate processed the information Dean had just given her very slowly, but Dean already knew he had her reeled in, even before she slowly stuck out of her hand for him to shake on their deal. He also knew that even if she lost their bet and they did make it off this island, he would help her evade the law regardless.

As they entered the cave, Dean couldn't help but notice the somber silence that greeted them. They stopped and took note of the few people that were milling around until Dean rammed his good elbow into Kate's ribs. She cried out, half in shock and half in pain, as he threw her an apologetic shrug when she leveled him with a glare. "That hurt."

"Don't be such a wuss," Dean scoffed at her as he rolled his eyes. He motioned over to the drinking water and watched as she followed his gaze to find Jack hunched on the ground, his head tucked in between his knees.

"What do you think happened?" Kate asked as they made their way over to him.

"Exactly what I told you was gonna happen," Dean whispered back to her. They both stopped in front of him and waited for him to look up in vain before Kate loudly cleared her throat. He glanced up at them with an exhausted expression and barely greeted them with a half hearted wave.

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

"You mean with Claire?" Jack wondered. They both nodded at him as he let out a deep sigh. "She moved back to the beach. Said it wasn't safe here," he informed them. "She just flipped out when I tried to talk to her."

"Did you do that whole condescendingly calm as hell doctor thing to a less than calm person?" Dean asked solemnly as Jack fixed him with a contemptuous glare.

"It wasn't like that."

"Maybe not," Dean began. "And, I'm not saying that we're promoting the safest atmosphere on the beach, but there hasn't been anybody attacked down there."

"I don't think anybody's been attacked here, either," Jack reminded him grimly. Dean nodded his understanding as he took a seat next to Jack and smiled up at Kate while he indicated his sling.

"Should one of us go after her?" Kate asked as she rolled her eyes at Dean's silent suggestion.

"I think she should be left alone for a little while," Jack admitted. "You two didn't see her, she was really angry. Actually, more than anything, she seemed embarrassed that I didn't believe her. I think the only thing we can do at this point is watch out for her and make sure nothing else stresses her out so she doesn't go into premature labor."

Kate nodded in consideration as she glanced over at Dean in time for his eyebrows to shoot up at her and a cheeky grin to light up his face. She rolled her eyes at him as she nodded her head which only made his grin grow into a smile. Even though he barely knew her, he liked Claire and under normal circumstances he would have done his best to protect her. Of course, normal circumstances for him usually involved the other person being hexed or the victim of a haunting. However, almost nine months pregnant and a short time away from giving birth? No thank you. Kate could watch her, instead. He could only imagine, with a shudder, her going into labor with only him around. Talk about ruin him on sex for the rest of his life.

"I'm pretty sure we can manage that, right Kate?" Dean asked, his smile still wide.

Kate scoffed at him with a thin lipped grin as she rolled her eyes again. "Don't start, Dean."

He opened his mouth to respond as a commotion from behind Kate grabbed his attention. He narrowed his eyes towards the cave entrance as Locke backed away quickly, his face slack in shock. "What the hell?" Dean muttered as he stood up from his spot. Kate turned in that direction while Jack craned his head as all three watched Sayid stumble in exhaustion into the cave.

"Sayid!" Jack exclaimed as he shot up from his position.

"Listen to me," Sayid begged as he hobbled towards them. Jack and Dean reached Sayid in time to catch him as he collapsed to the ground, both throwing the other concerned looks. Sayid's breathing came out ragged as Kate rushed towards them, her eyes wide as she bent over to help them settle him down. "I found her. The French woman." Sayid wheezed.

Jack stared down at Sayid in shock before he snapped his gaze up to Kate. "I need some water." Kate nodded at Jack as she quickly scurried to one of the streams to fill a bottle of water.

"I don't think he got shot like me," Dean commented as he scrutinized Sayid's injuries with a wince.

Jack nodded his agreement with Dean's statement as he focused his attention on Sayid. "What happened?"

"The woman. On the island," Sayid told him before he forced out another ragged groan while Jack busied himself with the injury on Sayid's leg. "I had to come back. I had to come back," he muttered. Kate gave Dean a grim look as she handed the filled water bottle to Jack which Sayid immediately grabbed and began to greedily gulp down.

"Take it easy or you're gonna throw it back up," Dean told him.

Jack began to tear away at the dirty and blood stained fabric wrapped around Sayid's leg as Sayid tried to catch his breath. "She's here still," Sayid whispered to Dean before he broke into another fit of wincing and moaning.

Dean glanced up at Kate in confusion as Jack continued to work on his wounds, his face constricted with apprehension. After a moment more of groaning, Sayid reached up and grabbed Jack's hand, halting his actions as he faced the doctor down with a serious and determined expression. "We're not alone."

The expression etched into Jack's features was enough to make Dean's stomach turn as Hurley came running into the caves completely out of breath. "We got a problem."

Dean glanced up at Hurley as he doubled over in front of them in an effort to catch his breath, papers clutched into his hands protectively. "Dude, we know. Sayid's right here," he told him grimly.

Hurley barely acknowledged the injured man as he shook his head vigorously and continued to try to catch his breath. "No, it's not that. The manifest," he wheezed out as he waved the papers he was clutching. "The census...the names of everyone that survived…all forty seven of us. I interviewed everyone here, at the beach and got their names. One of them…one of them isn't…" he trailed off as Jack continued to work on Sayid's leg, practically ignoring him. "Jack!"

Hurley waited as Jack turned his concerned gaze to him with his full attention. "One of them isn't on the manifest. He wasn't on the plane."

Dean glanced down at Jack as he visibly paled. He glanced back and forth from Sayid moaning on the ground to Hurley as he grew more and more panicked. "What do you mean he wasn't on the plane?" Dean demanded as he realized that Jack was speechless.

"I mean that he wasn't on the plane!" Hurley exclaimed impatiently.

"Hurley, man, you gotta calm down," Dean told him as he stood up and held his free hand out in front of him as if he were approaching a rabid dog.

Hurley stopped his pacing as he gave an unbelieving look to Dean before he continued. "Did you guys not hear what I just said? There is somebody on this beach that wasn't on our plane."

Jack looked up at Dean and Kate, his face still pinched in apprehension before he continued to work on Sayid's leg. Dean could see the terror on Jack's face as he realized that Hurley's panic wasn't helping their only doctor at the moment.

"Hurley, Dean's right," Kate interjected before he could. "You have to calm down right now," she demanded. Hurley stopped his pacing as he regarded all three of them and finally seemed to notice what his demeanor was doing to Jack. "Now, who wasn't on the plane?"

"That Canadian guy…Ethan," Hurley told them. "He isn't in the passenger manifest."

Jack looked up from Sayid's leg as he nodded his head, the terrified expression replaced with one of slight determination. "Well, where is he?"

"I don't know," Hurley admitted. "I talked to him yesterday and…"

"Has anybody seen Ethan?" Jack yelled as he stood up from his work.

"Sayid's leg," Kate reminded him which he only brushed off.

Dean watched as several people began to filter towards where they were all huddled, each trying to witness the commotion that they were in the middle of. "HAS ANYBODY SEEN ETHAN?" Jack repeated, louder.

Dean crouched down next to Sayid, rolling his eyes over at Kate as Jack began to panic worse than Hurley had. "Yeah, he said he was gonna get wood and took off on the path to the beach," Michael explained as he came forward. He looked down and caught sight of Dean as he attempted to finish up with Sayid's leg. "Is he okay, man? What happened?"

Jack's face fell as he processed the information Michael had just given him in grim realization. "Where's Charlie?"

"What?" Kate asked.

"Where's Charlie?" Jack repeated.

"He went after Claire," Locke calmly informed Jack.

"Jack, wasn't Claire headed back to the beach?" Dean asked as his thoughts synced with Jack's. Jack nodded his head slowly as his eyes widened in shock. "If Ethan's the one that attacked Claire…" Dean began, his eyes just as wide as he stood face to face with Jack.

"I know," Jack interrupted him. "Then both of them are headed right for him."

**Author's Note: I really really really dug this episode when it originally came on. It was one of the first episodes that threw me for a loop and left me with my mouth agape and my eyes wide. What better way to mark this episode than by throwing in some Blair Witch, Alias (another J.J. Abrams show), Expose (I'm hoping the die-hard LOSTies will get that reference) and a good old bet between Dean and Kate? I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and please leave me some love or some hate depending on what you thought. As always…thanks so much for reading this story! You guys ROCK THE CASBAH!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is for fun.**

Dean stomped down the familiar trail from the caves to the beach, a string of curse words lingering in the air behind him. He reached over to the sling he had been cooperatively wearing since his injury and ripped it off with as much malice as he could muster.

_Go back to the beach._

He could feel his body grow hot with more and more anger as he replayed the conversation he had just been a part of in his mind and fought to keep the blood coursing through his veins from exploding through his skin. He needed a plan. "Sam was always the planner," he admitted as he sped up his trek back to the beach.

_You're still injured. You'll only slow us down._

"Dean, wait up," he heard Kate yell behind him, effectively breaking through his musings. He didn't even spare her a glance as he let out a derisive snort and threw the scrap of cloth he'd torn from his arm over his shoulder with the lone hope that it hit her square in the face. What was the matter with him lately? Had he spent so much time as his dad's lapdog that he immediately needed to fill that void now that he was alone?

"Hell no," Dean muttered as he shook his head at his own thoughts. He clenched his teeth and quickened his pace into a dead sprint as the tree line that separated the beach from the jungle finally came into view. He could hardly contain the intent smile that spread across his face while he rolled his unused shoulder back and forth to get it warmed up.

"DEAN!" Kate yelled out again.

He couldn't stop his eyes from rolling as he halted to a stop and whirled around on Kate viciously. "WHAT?"

Kate backed up a few steps at the look on Dean's face, her eyes wide with shock before she regained her composure and squared her shoulders. "Dean, you have to think about this, alright? You ARE still injured. You're only gonna slow Jack down."

"Oh screw you, Kate," Dean hissed. He watched as his tone forced a wince across her features and found that he could barely muster the strength to care. "Look, I get that you're in love with the guy and we're all supposed to bow down to him, but you don't know a damn thing about me, so quit acting like you give a shit."

Kate's jaw dropped as her eyes narrowed in an anger nearly identical to his own. She picked up the discarded sling and threw it back in his face ferociously. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem?" Dean allowed an incredulous smirk to spread across his entire face as he shook his head at her cluelessness. "My problem is that nobody on this island will listen to a damn thing anybody says unless it's coming from Doctor Sexy's mouth. Were you even aware that getting rid of the bodies in the fuselage was Hurley's idea? Yeah, he asked us all about it the morning after the crash. Now, when did we actually take care of the fuselage? That's right…several days later when Jack suggested it."

Kate watched as Dean spitefully tossed the sling on the ground and spat on it. "So, you're just jealous of Jack? Is that it?"

Dean's smirk only widened as an amused chuckle worked its way up his throat and accompanied his disbelief. "Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I may only have a GED education, but Jack doesn't know shit about the real world. Besides, what does it say about you if you're so willing to go along with everything he says despite him doing the exact opposite of everything you say? I've been in a one sided relationship my entire life, Kate…it's not fun."

He threw one more scoff in Kate's direction before he resumed his trek to the tree line, intent on getting as far away from Kate and Jack as he could while he considered his own options. He was annoyed to admit that his shoulder did still hurt, but it wasn't the kind of mind numbing pain that was associated with having to hunt a werewolf while he nursed two cracked ribs. "I still managed to gank that son of a bitch, didn't I?"

He made it back to his tent in record time and packed as many supplies as he figured that he'd need to withstand a search in the jungle. As he closed up his pack and slung it across his shoulders, his mind went straight to Sam. Why wasn't he trying this hard to find his brother? Sam had been gone for a helluva lot longer than just a few hours and he'd barely started to look for him before he let that damned arrow in his shoulder halt any further attempts to find him.

_**That's because you know I can take care of myself**__, _his brother's voice chastised him as he left his tent and went after the only person that could help put his plan into action.

"Hey, have you heard about what's been going on, lately?" Dean asked as he stopped in front of Sawyer's tent and leaned against one of the trees casually. He waited, patiently, while Sawyer first smirked at the interruption and then made a big show out of lowering his paperback in nonchalance.

"I'm gonna assume you're referring to the mama cub and Ringo Starr getting themselves snatched up right under our fearless leader's very nose," Sawyer surmised.

"Dude, not that I'm much into giving Jack credit, but it happened while they were both far away from anyone," Dean clarified for him. "Doesn't matter, the last time I checked, this is a desert island and there's only so many places either of them could be." He stared off into the distance as his thoughts of what he already knew about the island took over before he momentarily shook them off. "How's the arm doing?"

"Just about to ask you the same question there," Sawyer answered. "Thought you wasn't supposed to take that sling off until the good ol' Doc gave you his thumbs up."

"Unlike you, I'm not dependent on the tiny stash of pain killers and antibiotics that he holds ransom so that his puppets keep dancing," Dean shot back.

"I ain't nobody's puppet, Superman," Sawyer informed him as the grin he had been wearing during their conversation began to fade.

"Prove it."

Sawyer's expression waned as a look of curiosity graced his features. He watched Dean for a moment more, what Dean could only assume was supposed to be intimidating before he let out a deep huff with a shrug. "You look like you got a plan swirlin' around in that pretty boy head of yours."

"Oh, I do," Dean told him. "We're gonna go find them."

"We are, huh?" Sawyer asked. Dean nodded again as Sawyer stood up and stretched out his atrophied muscles before he gave his full attention back to Dean. "What's Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman have to say about all this?"

"I don't give a shit if he's been voted island president and I'm breaking his number one law," Dean hissed. He couldn't help but match the grin that slowly spread across Sawyer's face as he was awarded with a nod of approval.

"Well, alright Superman. It's about time you jumped on my wagon. Can't help but wonder, though. What'd the doc do to have you starting his anti fan club?"

Dean paused as he let Sawyer's question sink in before he threw a spare pack full of supplies at him. "He underestimated me."

* * *

"Did you find anything?" Dean heard Kate ask as he and Sawyer rounded a bend to find her and Jack with Locke and Boone.

"No," Jack answered as he shook his head in disappointment.

"Not shocked," Dean called out. He was half tempted to throw a smug head nod in their direction as they all four awarded him and Sawyer with looks of shock. "Not only were you going in a circle, but I'm pretty sure they don't teach tracking skills in med school."

Jack shook his head incredulously as he dropped his arms to his sides in exasperation. "What the hell are you two doing out here? You're both injured."

"Not too injured to find the trail that took…" Dean pointed to Kate, Boone, Locke and then Jack before he held up four lazy fingers. "…four of you to find. I seem to recall that you guys started way sooner than us also."

"This isn't a competition, Dean," Kate informed him.

"Lucky for you, or we'd be winning," he shot back.

"Alright, that's enough. This isn't helping us find Claire or Charlie," Locke interrupted them.

Dean nodded his head with a shrug as he fought back the urge to laugh at how pissed Locke must have been to have to play tour guide to three people that knew nothing about tracking. "It's good to see you Dean, we could use the help. You," he began as he pointed over at Jack, "should go back to the caves, Sayid's leg."

"I dressed Sayid's leg," Jack informed him as he frantically tried to keep pace with Locke. "You found me, we can find Charlie and Claire. Now, do we have a trail to follow or not?"

"Jack, this is my fault," Locke stopped him.

"What the hell's he mean this is his fault?" Sawyer asked. Dean and Boone didn't even spare him a glance as they both shrugged off his question.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I've been hunting with Ethan…spending time with him. I never sensed anything…" he trailed off as he waved his hand in a vague motion. "Off." He caught his breath as he looked at Jack with sheer determination on his face. "But, for everything I know about hunting…tracking…he knows more. If we catch up to him, I don't want anything to happen to the only trained physician on the island, so go back. Be the doctor. Let me be the hunter."

Dean resisted the urge to clap at Locke's genuine speech, legitimately impressed that the older hunter had managed to sound so sincere as he tried to get Jack out of a situation that he was neither trained nor ready for. "Why do I get the feeling that speech isn't gonna work?" Boone asked.

They all watched as Jack shared frustrated glances with everyone in the clearing before he shook his head. "Can we go now?" He asked as he jabbed his thumb in the direction behind him.

"That's why," Dean told Boone.

They watched as Locke tersely instructed Jack to follow him while they both walked away, leaving behind an annoyed Sawyer, frustrated Dean, clueless Boone and a worried Kate. "He's gonna get himself killed, just so he can prove he's a hero," Sawyer hissed.

"I'm pretty sure he's not just trying to prove he's a hero," Dean corrected him. "I think he feels responsible. He knows, in the end, that despite Claire's warnings, he rebuffed her and that's what drove her back to the beaches."

Kate shot Dean a grateful look over her shoulder that Sawyer could only roll his eyes and scoff at. "I don't care what he's feeling. I ain't about to put my neck on the line for some idiot with any kind of heroic fixation."

"That's fine," Dean told him with a shrug. "We aren't far from the beach, just head back."

* * *

Dean knelt low to the ground as Locke rummaged around in his pack, finally gracing Boone and Dean with a smile as he drew out a bright red t-shirt. Dean looked up at him and smiled back with an impressed nod. "That's actually a great idea, man. Just in case it ends up raining or something."

"What are you talking about?" Boone asked. A genuine curiosity covered his face as he watched Locke tear a strip of fabric from the red t-shirt and tie it around a tree.

"Locke's marking our progress by line of sight," Dean explained to him as he motioned to the new flag. "He ties those off, at various places on the trail, so we don't get lost."

Boone nodded his head at the explanation before his eyes narrowed as they watched a new question immediately entered his mind. "But, even if there is rain, one of you can lead us back to camp, right?"

Dean slapped him on the shoulder as he shook his head optimistically. "Ideally, that's what's gonna happen. However, considering there's a guy, somewhere in this jungle, that disappeared two of our people in broad daylight, we have to account for the chance that something could happen to us."

Boone nodded his head again as his earlier curiosity seemed to turn into stark realization. "Maybe I better take marker detail," he said as he held out his hand for the rest of the t-shirt on Locke's shoulder. Locke smiled appreciatively over at him with a nod and handed it over while Dean chuckled in amusement.

"Anything?" Jack interrupted their moment as he and Kate came back into their clearing, both out of breath.

"Not yet," Locke informed him as he leaned against the tree he had just marked in an effort to catch his breath. Dean nodded over at Jack in the same manner, quickly realizing that the trail they had been following earlier was now completely gone.

Jack shook his head in disappointment at Dean and Locke as he walked right past them. "If you can't find the trail…" he sneered.

"Then what?" Dean asked. "You're gonna find it?"

"I'll pick it up again," Locke argued, finally feeling the agitation of the situation as Jack tried to lead them through the jungle with no clue what he was doing.

"You need to get off his ass and let him rest for a moment," Dean cut in as he reached into his pack and withdrew a water bottle that he took several drinks from while Locke did the same. He shot Jack a challenging look as he handed his bottle over to Boone so he could get in a few drinks before they started their hike again.

"You're gonna take a break?" Jack asked in disbelief. "It's gotta be almost four o'clock. When the sun sets, there's no way…"

"It's four twenty five," Locke corrected him. "And yes, I'm taking a break." Jack's eyes followed Locke as he walked right past him and took a seat on a lone rock. Dean could tell that Jack was fighting to keep his emotions in check as he clenched his jaw while he watched Locke open his pack, again, and dig around in it.

He glanced over at Kate, his eyes wide as he grinded his teeth down and motioned over to Jack, silently telling her that she needed to calm him down. She rolled her eyes back at him before she nodded and sidled up next to Jack. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" She didn't even wait for his response before she turned and led him away from all of them.

"What's going on with him?" Boone asked as he took a seat on the ground next to Locke.

"No clue, but he needs to calm down, "Dean told him. "Now."

"He's just upset that the trail's gone cold," Locke bit out to Boone and Dean.

"Yeah, I know," Dean confirmed as he graced the area around them with another cursory glance. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure how someone goes from walking around with two people one moment and then all of a sudden they're gone. Unless he can fly or someone was able to…" he trailed off and cocked his head to the side as his eyes caught a flash of something white in the bushes.

"Able to what?" Boone asked.

Dean ignored him as he knelt down and cautiously approached the foliage, all too aware of what had happened the last time he'd found something foreign in this same jungle. He finally reached the item and bent down to retrieve it. "What the hell?" Pinched between his thumb and finger was a dirty piece of tape with the letter 'L' written in black marker.

"Didn't Charlie wear those on his fingers?" Boone asked.

"Well, I think the trail just got hot again," Lock commented with a smile and a pat on Dean's back.

* * *

Jack rushed forward towards a tree branch and gingerly fingered another piece of tape, this time with the letter 'A' written on it with a smile before he held it up for Boone and Kate to see. "They went this way."

"I'm not so sure," Locke disputed as he and Dean stared down at the jungle floor in a completely different direction from where Jack had found the most recent of Charlie's tape. "He's right," Dean confirmed. "There's another trail over here."

Jack let out a deep groan as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a shaky hand. "What do you mean another?"

"I'm not really seeing how that's not a self explanatory statement," Dean told him as he shook his head in disbelief.

"These are footprints," Locke clarified as he pointed behind him at the trail they had found. "People moved off this way." Jack rushed forward to see for himself what Locke and Dean had found before he turned back to them and held up the tape he had found.

"Charlie's leaving these for us to follow," he argued as he indicated his evidence. "They went that way."

"Unless Charlie's not the one leaving them," Kate spoke up. She seemed to shrink under their gazes as all four of them gave her their full attention before she continued. "If Ethan knows we're behind him, he could be setting up a dummy trail. Take off in one direction…double back in his old footprints."

Dean glanced around at the others, not surprised to see the shock on Jack's face and the awe on Locke's. "Does anyone else think that was the hottest thing they've ever heard?" Dean asked aloud.

"Wait, now you're a tracker?" Boone asked her.

"You're just full of surprises," Locke managed to comment as his eyes stayed glued to Kate.

"So, we've got two trails. Let's split up," Jack suggested. "I'll take that one," he said as he pointed down the one he had found.

"No, we should stay together, Jack," Locke disagreed vehemently.

"Why? We've got two trails and apparently, two trackers," he said, motioning over to Kate.

"Uh, three," Dean corrected him as he pointed to himself.

Locke glanced back over at Dean and nodded before he turned back to Jack with a weary expression. "Be careful." He glanced over at Dean and silently asked him which group he would be heading out with on this little plan.

"I'm going with those two," he shouted as he passed Locke with a nod. "Someone has to make sure she can actually track them back to camp." Dean waited for Locke to acknowledge his decision before he sped up in order to catch up with Jack and Kate. He had barely managed to catch up to Kate before she sped up and pulled away from him spectacularly. "What the hell…" he murmured as he pushed forward and gritted his teeth against the frustration he felt at both of his people leaving him behind. "Kate, slow down."

"We have to catch up to Jack," she shouted back over her shoulder. "JACK! WAIT UP!" Dean let out a deep sigh as he sprinted faster and managed to finally match her pace. He couldn't even see Jack in front of him as they both continued ahead.

"Where is he?" Dean asked around huffs of air.

"Right in front of us," Kate told him. "I swear it almost feels like he's trying to lose us."

"That'd actually be genius," Dean told her with a snort. "What better way to find our missing people than for him to lose the only trackers that are with him. Sawyer was right…this hero complex is getting to be bullshit."

"Jack! Can you please slow down?" Kate yelled again as she ignored Dean's ranting.

"If this isn't the dummy trail then we're going the right way, right?" Jack finally responded to her pleas.

"I said that he COULD have made a dummy trail. I'm not as good at this as Locke is," Kate clarified as Jack finally stopped and they all three worked to catch their breaths. Dean leaned forward and rested on his knees before he withdrew the same water bottle from his pack so he could cure the burning in his throat.

"So, where'd you pick up the tracking skills, Kate? Was that before or after you were on the run?" Jack asked in a snide tone.

"I'm trying to help, Jack," Kate told him as Dean took a few steps back from their 'lover's quarrel' and sipped at his water bottle.

"You know what might help? A little honesty. Just give me something real. Anything," Jack requested.

"Yeah, Kate's life story is really gonna help Charlie and Claire get found," Dean piped up.

"Look, if it helps, my dad was in the army," Kate admitted reluctantly. "Ranger Battalion. We were stationed at

Fort Lewis in Washington State. We would go hiking together…one day we spent eight hours tracking deer. Being in the woods it was like…it was like his religion."

Dean and Jack watched as Kate looked away from them and crouched down on the ground, almost pained that she had shared that experience with them, but Dean could relate. He'd spent his entire life raised and trained on his dad's religion and all it had gotten him was 26 years of loneliness, close calls to death and a bad temperament.

He shot an understanding smile to Kate as she stood and walked towards them, which she returned before it fell and she locked eyes with Jack. "That was real. Anything you wanna share, Jack?"

He met her stare with one of his own, something that Dean could almost describe as understanding before he shook his head at her question. Well, at least the awkwardness between those two seemed to be abating. Dean smiled slightly before it fell as he breathed in a nose full of the jungle air around them. "You guys smell that, right?" he asked. Kate and Jack both turned to him and shot him identical questioning glances before they both breathed in deeply through their noses.

"What are we supposed to smell besides trees?" Jack asked wearily.

"Is that…" Kate trailed off as she breathed in again. "Rain?"

"Yeah, I don't see any clouds yet, but we all know rain falls pretty fast on this island with no clouds in sight," Dean told them. "We have to get a move on or any approaching rain'll wash away the trail."

* * *

Dean followed sedately behind Kate and Jack as the rain poured down around them, careful to keep an eye out for anything that could surprise them in the dark, but also unwilling to succumb to the sort of panic that Jack seemed to have latched onto. He watched as both he and Kate rushed down to the foot of a hill they had been climbing, while he stayed put so he could resume his observations.

"I guess we were right," Jack shouted over his shoulder, drawing Dean's attention to him. He followed their footprints down the same hill and stopped next to them as Jack reached forward and picked up another piece of tape, this one sporting an 'L' written on the front, that had almost been completely covered with mud.

Dean couldn't help but smile along with Jack and Kate as they all seemed to expel similar sighs of relief that the trail they had been following all afternoon had gotten them somewhere close to where they needed to be. "Where to now?" Jack asked them both, cutting the light mood immediately.

Dean glanced around for a moment with Kate, hoping there was something else that the rain had yet to wash away that could lead them further when a strange sound stopped him cold. He'd heard that sound before, hadn't he?

"Is that the wind?"

"There's no way in hell that's the wind," Dean answered Kate as he held up his hands to silence them both. What was it about this jungle and strange noises? They listened intently as the same noise rose again, this time from up a hill in front of them. Dean lowered his arm back to his side as his wide eyed gaze went all the way to the top of that hill.

"It's Claire," Jack whispered as he ran past him and grabbed a root to start his climb up.

"Jack! Jack, wait…where are you going?" Kate shouted after him as she hurried behind him to the hill. Dean inwardly groaned as he followed behind her, half convinced that Jack would only get himself killed if he was allowed to roam around on his own.

"JACK!" Kate shouted again, as they both watched him finally turn around halfway through his climb, his face full of conviction.

"Did you hear her?"

"What? Hear who?" Kate asked as Jack turned back around and resumed his climb.

"He thinks its Claire," Dean told her as he pushed her forward to follow him. They both struggled to gain on Jack's lead while he continued to climb. They had almost made it next to him when Dean saw Jack slip and grabbed Kate around the waist and pulled her close to him while Jack slid back past them.

"JACK!" Kate yelled as she struggled against Dean's hold.

"Kate! Stop! You might get hurt," Dean told her as he set her back down in front of him and they both moved to descend back down the hill. He managed to keep close enough to Kate that he was able to catch her the two or three times that the rain tried to take her footing and kept her from rolling back down the hill with Jack. "Kate, you gotta calm down and take it slower."

"He could be hurt, Dean," Kate practically sobbed over her shoulder.

"And if you get hurt, also, then that's two of you that I have to carry back to camp," Dean reprimanded her as he grabbed tightly onto her bicep. Kate glanced down at his death grip on her arm before she met his eyes in the rain and nodded her understanding.

"Ok, good, now get behind me and match my steps," Dean instructed her as he climbed around her still form and began a careful trek down the rest of the hill.

He reached the bottom first and was shocked to find Jack halfway across the clearing, out cold with blood seeping from a few cuts on his face. "Oh my god," Kate murmured as she ran across the opening to his unconcious form. Dean glanced from where he was standing to the several yards where Jack was and shook his head immediately.

"There's no way in hell that he would have landed there. Not from just sliding down that hill," Dean informed Kate as she settled down next to Jack and tried to rouse him.

"He's out cold."

Dean nodded up at her while he hunkered down on the other side of Jack and lightly tapped at his face as he took an inventory of the cuts and already forming bruises on his nose and mouth. "What the hell did he hit his face on?"

"Dean, we have to wake him up," Kate frantically pleaded with him.

Dean thanked whatever god was up there watching his pathetic excuse for an existence as the rain finally let up while he tapped on Jack's cheeks a little harder, smiling as his eyes finally began to flutter.

"Jack?" Kate asked, a teary smile in her voice. "Are you ok?"

Jack moaned as his eyes opened fully and crossed a bit before they finally refocused on the two of them bent over him. "How long was I out?" he asked in a pained voice.

"I don't know…a few minutes," Kate told him as she motioned frantically with her hands. "You slipped. With all the rocks and everything…"

"Ethan," Jack interrupted her as he grimaced and moved to stand.

"What?"

"Ethan was here," Jack reaffirmed.

"You banged your head," Kate told him.

"No, he didn't," Dean interrupted. Jack and Kate both gazed over in his direction as Dean clenched his jaw and fist in anger. "There's no way you hit your face that badly on the way down. He did all that to you, didn't he?" Jack reached up and gingerly touched his split lip before he winced at the action and nodded his head. "What'd he say to you?"

Dean watched the regret fill Jack's eyes as he looked down at the ground sheepishly for a few moments before he regained his composure and met Dean's look with one of determination. "He told me if we didn't stop following him, that he'd kill one of them."

Kate let out a surprised gasp as Dean's jaw clenched even further. He knelt down next to his pack and fumbled through the items he had filled it with as he shook his head incredulously. "I guess that answers the question of whether he's the bad guy or not."

"Dean, what are you doing?" Kate asked as she moved closer to Jack while he swayed a bit on his feet.

Dean pulled out a machete and two large knives with a satisfied smile. He held each knife out to Kate and Jack and watched as they cautiously took them before he pulled the leather holster off of his machete and twirled it around a few times. "I was seriously hoping that this wouldn't come down to shedding blood, but this son of a bitch kidnapped two of our people and now he's threatening us just because we're looking for them. May as well be a monster, in my book."

"What are we waiting for?" Jack asked with a nod of appreciation at Dean. Dean could only smile back as he nodded his head in the opposite direction of the hill they had just tried to climb and started off in that direction.

"Ok, wait. Both of you stop," Kate shouted as she threw her knife down in the mud. "The rain has washed away the trail."

"No, I'm not letting him do this," Jack told her as he rushed forward and into the trees. Dean glanced back at Kate with a deep sigh and pointed at the knife at her feet that was halfway stuck in the mud. "My dad gave me that when I was thirteen. He may not have been Army Ranger Battalion, but he was a Marine and my hero. I'd appreciate if you treated it with a little more respect."

He watched her closely as she bent down to pick it up and wiped the mud away on her wet clothes before she graced him with an uncomfortable glance. "Sorry." She waited as he nodded at her before she scurried past him after Jack.

"He may not know it yet, but Locke owes me big time for taking on those two," Dean murmured as he turned and followed after them. He couldn't help but wonder how serious Ethan was about his earlier threat as he tried to catch up to both Kate and Jack before he heard the unmistakable sound of Kate's startled gasp. "Jack must have tripped on a hidden root."

"No!" Dean heard Jack remark in horror as he ate his words and immediately sped up his pace. He burst through some thick brush and landed solidly next to Kate as she stared bewildered in front of her.

"Oh god," he muttered as his eyes landed on Charlie, blindfolded and hanging by the neck on several thick vines. He rushed forward and shouldered Charlie's right leg while Jack held up his left side while trying to keep his shaking under control. He was terrified. "Kate, you gotta cut him down. The knife I gave you," Dean shouted back as Kate ran past them and started to climb the vines.

"Hang on Charlie. Hang on," Jack shouted in a panicked voice while Dean monitored Kate while she continued to climb.

"Jack, we need to bring him closer to Kate or she won't be able to reach him," Dean instructed Jack as they both walked a few steps to their right and stopped as they felt Kate begin to hack away at the vines. "Harder," Dean instructed her as he realized that not only was Charlie not moving, but he wasn't breathing either and he wasn't even aware of how long he'd been not breathing.

They both heard the vines snap before they realized it and scrambled to catch Charlie before his head smacked into the ground. They both got him laid down as Jack moved to his head and removed the blindfold covering his eyes. He opened them both and checked his pupils and then his mouth before he shook his head. "He's not breathing."

"You take the airways, I'll do compressions," Dean told him as they both positioned themselves next to Charlie, while Kate took a hold of his limp hand. Dean watched closely as Jack blew into Charlie's mouth twice before he nodded at him and Dean started the chest compressions. He counted down vigilantly and nodded for Jack to continue while he waited to start again. Nothing.

"It's not working," Dean remarked as Kate began to openly cry at their wasted efforts.

"No!" Jack shouted as he bent down and breathed twice more into Charlie's mouth before he pushed Dean away and solidly pounded down on Charlie's chest as hard as he could. Kate let out a deep sob as she got up and turned her back on their efforts while Dean once again tried to get Jack's attention.

"Jack, you have to stop. He's gone," Dean told him.

"NO! Come on, Charlie. COME ON!" Jack shouted as he continued to beat down on Charlie's chest. Dean shook his head in frustration as he got up and put his arms around Kate. She spun around and openly wept into his chest while they both tried to block out Jack's ministrations.

"Come on! Come on!" Jack continued to shout before Kate finally pushed away from Dean and ran forward to grab Jack's arm.

"Jack! No. He's not…he's not coming…" she couldn't even finish her words as she broke down in another round of sobs and pulled Jack far enough away from Charlie's body that all they could do was stare down at him in sorrow. "It's ok," Kate murmured as she rubbed Jack's shoulder comfortingly.

"No," Jack groaned as he shook his head and pushed Kate away. "No."

He scrambled back over to Charlie and continued to pound away at his unmoving chest while Kate turned away again, her hysterics getting the better of her as Dean leaned down next to Jack. "Jack, he's gone."

"No, he's not," Jack hissed as he continued to work.

"JACK! STOP!" Kate yelled around her cries.

"Come on," Jack seethed as he ignored them both.

Dean and Kate both jumped as they heard a strong and sharp gasp for air interrupt Jack's pounding. They both spun around to see Charlie's eyes open as he tried to suck in as much air as his lungs would allow. Dean could only stand in shock as Kate rushed down next to him and whispered soothing instructions with Jack for him to keep breathing.

He looked fine.

Not counting the time they had been trying to revive him, he'd been without oxygen for far too long. What the hell was going on?

* * *

"You look like you've had one helluva day," Sawyer remarked as Dean collapsed into one of the plane chairs surrounding the signal fire.

"I think I passed 'one helluva day' a few houses back," Dean corrected him as he rolled his head back and forth until he heard and felt the desired pop. "Right about now, I'd kill for a beer."

"Ain't got a beer, but how's this instead?" Sawyer asked as he held out one of the miniature bottles of Jack Daniels that the airplane had been stocked with. Dean reached for it with a raised eyebrow before he stopped and glanced up at him.

"How much is this gonna cost me?"

"Free. Think of it as even for me leaving you out with the Justice League today," Sawyer told him as he took a seat next to him at the fire. "You guys end up finding them?"

"We found Charlie. Son of a bitch had lynched him on some vines," Dean informed him as he took a healthy shot of the whiskey.

Sawyer digested his words as he stared out at the fire in front of them. "He gonna be ok?"

"Jack managed to revive him, but he's more than a little traumatized. When I left the caves he wasn't talking and just kept staring out in front of him," Dean explained to him. "We weren't able to find Claire."

Sawyer nodded his head at the new information as he withdrew a second whiskey bottle and took a shot of it himself. "Did you know that Apu was back?" he asked.

"Yeah…he stumbled back into the caves earlier today, but after everything that happened, it completely slipped my mind," Dean told him with a shrug. "Why, what'd you do?"

"Nothing, nothing," Sawyer assured him as he held up his hands innocently. "Trust me, I had every intention of making that son of a bitch pay for using me to recapture his golden Iraqi days, but what good would it get me?"

Dean nodded over at him, clearly impressed as they each downed the rest of their whiskey and he handed his empty bottle back to Sawyer with an appreciative smile. "He mention to any of you that he found the French woman?" Sawyer asked.

"Well, he was pretty damn injured when he got there, but he managed a few sentences about us not being alone. I think his news isn't as breaking considering that someone not on our plane kidnapped two of our people," Dean reasoned as he stood up and stretched out his muscles, wincing as his shoulder tweaked a little too much. "I'm heading to bed…maybe think up some way to get Claire found."

"I get the feeling that Claire ain't gonna get found unless they let us find her," Sawyer told him. He waited until Dean turned back around before he shot him with a knowing look. "The way Sayid was talking about these 'others' had him spooked. I figure that's saying a lot considering Sayid's a genuine Iraqi torturer."

Dean nodded his head at Sawyer disconsolately as he let out a deep breath around a shrug. "If there are other people on this island…people that were here before us, there's only one thing I can't understand."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"What the hell do they want with a pregnant girl from Australia?"

**Author's Note: I, in no way, intended for this story to go so long without an update. I've been operating under the at least one chapter a month philosophy, but life is tricky and has completely blocked my path for the last few months. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I always intended for Dean and Sawyer to be better allies than Dean and Jack and this is the start of that. I don't think Jack would have done as well of a job during the time travel into Dharma territory as Sawyer did. He's a natural leader, he just has a lifetime as a con artists stopping him. Same with Dean. Anywho, the new chapter WILL NOT take as long, but please review anyways! It makes me so happy! It's what pushed me to get this one FINALLY done, because of all the kinds words that ya'll had to say. It's much appreciated!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except a surly little bulldog that can't read anyways.**

Sam couldn't help but return the tight smile that Libby bestowed upon him as she walked past him and left the clearing where Ana Lucia had secluded herself from everyone else. It surprised him with how little he knew her that he was so worried about her behavior. He assumed it had more to do with making sure nothing else happened to anybody from their camp, but he was still worried enough that he'd asked Libby to talk to Ana Lucia and find out if she was alright.

Maybe it was half worry and the other half a need to confirm his suspicions, but in the end, it didn't matter either way. He'd managed to make it to Stanford on a full ride with John Winchester's subpar parenting skills. To say he was smart would be akin to stating that water was wet.

He hadn't wanted to be right, but when he had caught Ana Lucia, by herself, digging away at the island's floor, he knew it was to reach an endgame. She was digging a pit…her own personal jail cell.

He let out a small groan as he avoided the spraying dirt from Ana Lucia's efforts as he made his way over to her and stopped at the edge of the nominal hole in front of him. He studied her progress and noted that she hadn't gotten very far in her digging, but he also knew just by looking down at her that she wasn't showing any signs of stopping. Even if Sam hadn't tasked Libby with finding out what she was doing, he'd have known what she was doing with just this one cursory glance.

"Ana?" he called out. She paused very briefly at Sam's voice and squared her shoulders before her actions informed him that she'd rather just ignore him as she resumed her digging. "Ana, I know you heard me."

"What do you want?" She bit out, not even turning to give him her full attention.

"I want you to stop this, Ana," he pleaded with her. He waited for a few more moments and let out a deep sigh when she continued to ignore him. "I know what you're doing here."

Ana Lucia's shoveling slowed to a stop as she let out a deep sigh and glanced up at Sam from over her shoulder, her face a mask of betrayed indifference. "Your little spy fill you in?"

Sam scoffed as he allowed his features to convey how incredibly ludicrous her actions and words were. "My spy? Ana, you sound completely paranoid right now. I'm not against you, I'm just trying to watch out for you."

"I don't need you to watch out for me. Just leave me alone," she told him before she resumed her digging.

"You know I can't do that. What you're planning is uncalled for, especially when there may not even be anything going on with him..." he began again.

"Don't," Ana Lucia interrupted as she stood and whirled around to face him head on. Beneath the fury and exhaustion on her face he could see the clear disappointment that was shining through and directed straight at him. She was worried that he thought she was overreacting. "Just don't. The last thing I need is a lecture on this."

"I'm kinda thinking you do," Sam contradicted her. "I mean, I'm certainly not saying that we should change it up and let Nathan lead us through the jungle, but you don't have any right to imprison him," Sam told her. "At least, not until we get more proof."

"Screw that," she spat. "They said that exact same thing to me out in the real world. 'Get hard evidence and we'll find the guy that shot you and punish him.' That only meant that he'd get a little bit longer on his prison term before the state let him go, AGAIN, and he shot someone else." Sam's eyes widened as Ana Lucia stood straight up and snapped her mouth shut. She turned her back on him and he watched as her body began to shake while she hugged her flat stomach.

"Ana, what are you talking…?"

"I handled it," she told him, her voice irresolute. She squared her shoulders again and wiped her hand over her face before she picked up her shovel and continued to dig. "I made sure that he couldn't hurt anybody else and he didn't. I'm not letting Nathan take anymore of our people."

* * *

Sam placed the limp rabbit in the pile of small kills he'd managed to hunt and hoped to the high heavens that it would be enough to feed their dwindling group for a few days. It was better than waiting for the man with the Peace Corps training to get off his ass and hunt. Of course, the only other active alternative was to wait and see if Bernard and Nathan managed to catch anything in the rabbit traps they'd built. Personally, he had searched the first trap they showed him for any ACME stickers, since it looked exactly like the kind of thing Wile E. Coyote would use to try and catch the roadrunner…with the same success rate.

"Sam!"

At the disturbance to the quiet jungle, Sam jumped and spun towards the direction that he had heard his name. Bernard stumbled out of the brush, frantic and wide eyed as he motioned him forward. "You have to hurry. It's Ana Lucia."

Sam didn't wait to hear anymore as he rushed past Bernard towards the direction of the pit Ana had been working on for the last few days. She wouldn't have done anything drastic without discussing her suspicions with the camp first, would she? He got his answer as he entered the clearing right behind Libby and watched, stunned, as Ana Lucia slammed a bamboo cage over the pit's opening.

He cautiously made his way to the edge and glanced down through the cage slats to see Nathan groggily regaining consciousness…at least six feet down. She had knocked him out? How the hell had she dug this out so quickly with only a roughly made substitute for a shovel?

"What are you doing?" Nathan yelled from the bottom as he ignored Sam and focused his anger on Ana Lucia.

"You and I are going to have a little talk, Nathan," Ana Lucia informed him as she knelt down and gave him a smug look that indicated that he had no choice in the matter.

"Oh god, Ana, what the hell did you do?" Sam yelled as he stalked over to her and knelt down to lift the cage open. He barely managed to restrain his anger as Ana Lucia blocked his hand and shoved him away from the cage.

"Don't you dare let him out, Sam. He wasn't on our plane," she informed him frantically. Sam looked up at her from his position in the dirt and saw the same terror and panic that had been breaking through her façade for a good week now. He brushed himself off as he stood back up and stared Ana down dubiously.

"What are you talking about?" Bernard interjected incredulously.

"How do you know?" Sam calmly asked as he tuned out the rest of the camp's murmurs and Nathan's screaming.

Ana gave him a nonsensical look as she pointed down at the pit that contained Nathan. "We were in the air for 2 hours...I didn't see him once. Not once," she told him, her voice strong and certain.

"It's a big plane, Ana. Just because you didn't..." Goodwin began.

"No, I didn't see him either," Cindy interrupted. She seemed to shrink as everyone turned their attention to her before she regained herself and held her ground. "I'm pretty good with faces, you know, I have to be with the amount of passengers. I did NOT see him."

Sam had to stop himself from laughing out loud at the so called logic pouring out of Ana Lucia and the people backing her. "You're not all serious," Goodwin exclaimed skeptically. Sam was both impressed that someone in their camp was rationally on his side and frustrated that the "rational" person was Goodwin, someone he still didn't trust completely. He glanced around and noticed that Eko and Bernard were also standing away from the group of others and next to him and Goodwin as Bernard glanced down at the cage sadly.

"He never talks about himself," Libby pointed out to them. "Every time I ask him anything, he just dodges."

"All you've proven is that he's a private person," Sam reasoned. "If that's a crime then maybe you should dig another pit for me."

"Besides, if he really were one of them, why would he still be here?" Bernard reasoned.

Ana Lucia shifted her attention between Bernard and Sam and let out a deep sigh before she shook her head despondently. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

A knot began to form in Sam's stomach at the look of determination on her face before he stared down at the pit she had used to imprison a member of their camp. A member that was begging to be let out.

* * *

Dean squinted his eyes against the sun as he watched the other survivors try to retrieve their items from the rushing tide. He smiled as he mentally patted himself on the back for having the foresight to set his shelter up nearer to the tree line rather than the ocean. "Yeah, but what good did that get me?" He asked himself as he untied one of the corners of his shelter's canopy and caught the flap before the wind could pick it up.

"Dude, what's got your panties in a bunch?" Hurley inquired as he came up behind him munching on a piece of fruit. He smiled sheepishly as he offered the extra mango to Dean who grimaced before he turned it down.

"First off, I'm a boxers, man…alright? Dean shot him a serious look before he set the canopy down and placed a heavy enough rock over it so he could take a small break. He pulled out a bottle of water and took a giant swig before he nodded over at his half standing tent. "Second, I'm just pissed that I finally got my damn shelter perfect and we all have to move up the beach," he complained.

"If it's that big of a deal, just stay here," Hurley suggested as he lifted up the rock weight and untied another corner. He shrugged at his idea while he folded the two ends together and handed it to Dean who shook his head with a scoff.

"Yeah, well, I guess I won't need to worry about sand fleas if the water's over my head. Just have to make sure those pesky jellyfish know that this tent is already occupied," he commented back with an annoyed chuckle as he carefully folded the end of his tarp further.

Hurley let out a deep laugh as he helped Dean remove the rest of his tarp and fold it neatly to put into the pile with the rest of his belongings. "Why do think they always look so intense when they talk?"

Dean glanced up from his inventory of the items he needed to move and over in the direction that Hurley was starting at to see Jack and Sayid engaged in what looked like a serious discussion. "Probably rethinking the parameters of need to know people in our group," he muttered as Jack turned and marched back up to the tree line.

Sayid watched him leave regretfully before he turned and noticed Hurley and Dean watching him and limped slowly towards them. "You ok, man?" Hurley asked as Sayid stopped in front of them.

"Because of my leg?" he asked as he indicated his injury.

"Well, that…and you and Jack seemed pretty deep into it over there," Hurley told him.

Sayid glanced back at the empty spot he had been speaking to Jack before he shook his head forlornly. "Jack is confused as to why nobody will move further inland. He thinks it would save us from having to move because of the tide."

"It doesn't matter if we move inland or further up the beach," Dean interjected. "Either way, we have to move."

"That's what I told him," Sayid agreed.

"Speaking of, is it normal for the tide to be coming in like this?" Dean asked as he indicated the ocean. He glanced over at Sayid to find an impressed look on his face as he shook his head.

"No, I was just telling Jack that the tide shouldn't be rising in such a short amount of time," Sayid confirmed.

"It's almost about as normal as someone being deprived of oxygen for several minutes and then coming back to consciousness like it never happened," Dean commented as he stared across the beach at Charlie. Ever since he'd been revived, he'd been a little more than catatonic to the rest of the survivors. "There's something not right about this island."

"You're just saying that cuz we're stuck on it," Hurley ribbed Dean.

"No, I agree," Sayid nodded. He cast an inquisitive glance at Dean before he visibly gathered his courage and continued around a sigh. "During your time in the jungle…"

"My time in the jungle," Dean laughed. "You mean the night that I camped away from the beach and then immediately got shot with a rigged arrow? That time?"

"Yes," Sayid told him with a wane smile. "During that time, did you hear anything…strange?"

Dean's carefree smile vanished and he visibly gulped as his mind recounted the whispers that had followed him the closer he got back to the beach before he shook his head in denial. "Maybe it was the wind…or I had lost so much blood by that time…"

"You DID hear something," Sayid confirmed at the look on Dean's face.

"Did you?" Dean countered. He watched as an array of emotions played across Sayid's face before his let out a deep sigh.

"I could only assume, at the time, that it was the French woman," Sayid explained to him before he cast a regretful sideways glance in his direction.

Dean immediately deciphered the look that Sayid was giving him and couldn't help but feel completely miffed about it. "Dude, are you kidding me? I know about the French transmission that you guys discovered. By the way, thanks for filling me in on that. Need to know information really goes far on this island."

Sayid had the grace to look sheepish before he composed himself appropriately. "I realize, now, that it was not wise to exclude that information from you or anyone," he admitted. "Especially knowing that you went into that jungle before me."

"I turned out fine, despite the hedging," Dean told him. "Besides, Charlie told Locke and myself everything that first day we went to the caves, so I knew before I left." Sayid nodded his head guiltily before bestowing an identical sideways glance at Hurley. "He knows too…sheesh. You're taking this intelligence officer bit way too far."

"Jack thought it would be in everybody's best interest not to alarm the camp," Sayid explained and watched as Dean's expression changed from mild annoyance to anger.

"Funny, I wasn't aware that it was Jack's idea to keep this information from anyone he deemed not important," Dean told Sayid. "I'll deal with Jack later, right now, I wanna know what you think you heard."

"Whispers," Sayid told him simply, a grim smile covering his face as Dean nodded his head in agreement. "The French woman, she said there were other people on this island."

"I thought you said she was crazy," Dean recalled.

"She's been isolated for close to two decades," Sayid explained to him. "It isn't even her reclusive nature that disturbed me. She was originally part of a science team that shipwrecked on this island."

"How'd she end up alone?" Hurley asked.

"She killed her entire team. Said they were infected with something and that they couldn't be saved," Sayid told them, nodding as they both visibly paled. "Jack thinks she can help us find Claire."

"I doubt she has Claire," Dean told him begrudgingly. He let out a frustrated breath as Sayid and Hurley both stared at him curiously. "You know, I am aware of observing the occasional thing and interjecting my opinion. You, yourself, said that the French woman was alone, but it was Ethan that infiltrated our camp and blended in for almost three weeks," he explained.

Sayid nodded his head impressively at Dean's logic as he glanced over at the items Dean had begun to pile out of his tent. "I managed to take several maps from her before I fled," he explained with a frustrated look on his face.

"That's good though," Dean interjected. "Between you and me, going into the jungle isn't the best idea…but it'd be awesome if we knew what kind of area this island covered."

"I agree. However, the maps contain several equations that are accompanied by notations," he informed them. "The notations are in French, but I don't speak French. Do either of you?"

"Do I speak French?" Dean asked incredulously. Hurley shook his head as Dean let out a deep laugh at Sayid's hopeful look. "Dude, the only reason I even signed up for French was because of Maggie Sotero."

"Who's she?" Hurley asked.

"Some girl I went to school with for like two and a half weeks. I may not have learned a damn word of French in those three weeks, but I'm proud to say that Maggie became an expert on French kissing."

"Oh dude…nice," Hurley laughed.

"Regardless of your exploits," Sayid began, clearly trying to fight back a smile. "I am worried that I will not be able to map the island accurately if I don't figure out what she wrote."

"Why not ask Princess Sunscreen?" Dean considered. Sayid glanced over at him curiously before turning in the direction that Dean had indicated to find Shannon lying on her stomach in the sand.

"You must be joking," he answered as he turned back to Dean and shot him a weary look.

"Why not? She's the one that translated the distress message," Dean informed him. He smiled as the information that Dean had just told him rolled across his features in question. "Seriously, dude, you were there. How did I know this and you didn't?"

Sayid ignored him as he stared over at Shannon, a plan already forming in his mind.

* * *

"Dude, I'm not one to be the bearer of bad news when we're already in a shitty situation, but you are wasting all of your time when you could have already had your shelter moved up the beach," Dean told Sawyer as he sat down next to him on a log.

"What are you talking about?" Sawyer asked with a sneer.

"He's talking about you wasting hairpins on trying to pop the lock on a Haliburton case," Michael cut in as he dragged a load of items away from the water and set it down so he could take a drink of water. Sawyer gave him a murderous look while Michael only chuckled back. "If you pick the lock on a Halliburton, I'll put you on my back and fly us to L.A."

"You better find yourself a runway, daddy. 'Cause there ain't a lock I can't pick," Sawyer told him smugly.

"There is now," Dean informed him as he tapped at the dented metal of the case. "Sorry to burst your bubble, man, but they make these things so that they can't be broken into."

"Yeah, and then someone comes along and ends up finding a way to break into them," Sawyer told him. "How else do you explain breaking and entering?

"Picking a home lock is a much different ball game than a Halliburton," Dean told him simply.

"What's he trying to do?" Hurley asked as he stopped next to Michael and nodded over to Sawyer.

"Pick the lock on a Halliburton," Michael told him.

Hurley let out a mirthful laugh as he shook his head incredulously. "Good luck!" he told him sarcastically as he continued the way he was headed with several items loaded in his arms.

"The only way you're gonna open that case is with pure force, man," Michael told him as he stacked several items in a pile. "Impact velocity."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sawyer snapped.

"He's basically hinting that you need to hit the case with something hard. Like a sledgehammer," Dean told him as he took the case and inspected it with a shrug before he handed it back to Sawyer.

"Or the axe," Michael reminded them as he patted his son on the shoulder and walked away chuckling.

"He's right, you know," Dean told him with a smirk as he shook his head at Sawyer in amused disbelief. "What the hell's so important that you're this desperate to get into that thing anyways?"

"Not a clue," Sawyer told him with a snort. "It's not mine."

"I'm not surprised," Dean told him. "Look, I think I remember Boone asking about the axe a while ago. Said Locke needed it for something."

"Well, ain't that just perfect," he seethed. "Reckon I'm gonna have to use my head on this one."

"Why not? It's hard enough," Dean shot back as he ducked Sawyer's swing and jogged back to his old area so he could gather the rest of his things. He couldn't help but get in another chuckle before his eyes caught Kate behind a tree, watching Sawyer. She stayed crouched and scuttled behind another tree and then another and managed to discreetly follow as Sawyer made his into the jungle.

"Nope, I actually don't wanna know," Dean chided himself as he shook his head and continued to his new shelter site.

* * *

Dean tied down the last corner of his tarp and nodded his head in approval at his new temporary housing. He'd manage to snag an almost identical location next to a fruit tree like last time and couldn't be happier about the natural shade against the harsh sun. He scanned the new beach and was surprised to find that some people had still set their tents up closer to the water than they should have.

"Dude, it looks way better than the last one," Hurley remarked with a smile from behind him.

Dean turned around and returned the smile before he appraised his shelter again. "Yeah, well…I had more time with the architect to plan a space for the hot tub and a billiards room."

"Funny dude…hilarious actually," Hurley drolly responded. He glanced around the beach at the other people that were settling down in their new locations before he realized that everyone was getting along a little too well. "You do realize that there's a certain someone that hasn't moved their tent over here yet, right?"

Dean glanced around before he finally realized who was missing and rolled his eyes impatiently. "I specifically told him to quick screwing around with that case and get his things moved."

"Well, do you think someone should help move his stuff over here?" Hurley asked. Dean glanced over at him in surprise. It was no secret that Sawyer had been pretty damn mean to Hurley during the first week after the crash. Actually, he had pretty much been mean to everybody, but lately that had seemed to change.

"You wanna help him out?" Dean asked. "You do know we're talking about Sawyer, right?"

"I didn't say it had to be me," Hurley corrected him quickly. "Actually, the way I figure it is he can't be all that bad if you two are friends."

Hurley's words struck Dean as he realized that he was right. He and Sawyer had become friends. Both of them had more in common than the other was willing to admit. "Tell you what, go work on your shelter and I'll go check on Sawyer. See if he needs any help."

Hurley smiled at him with a nod as he departed in the opposite direction that Dean went. It was amazing how close the original beach was from where they had moved and yet, they were so much safer from the rising tide. He scrutinized the beach as he stopped in his tracks and was extremely disappointed to find a lone structure still standing with the rest of the debris that they hadn't been able to bring with them.

"He makes me look like the least stubborn person on the planet," Dean murmured as he made his way to Sawyer's once tented structure. "Dude, it's great that you managed to get the tarp down, but you do realize that you're gonna have to move everything that you don't want underwater, right?" Dean asked as he took a seat on some of the debris that had comprised Sawyer's shelter.

"I'm not in the mood right now, ok?" Sawyer told him with a grumble. Dean held up his hands in surrender and studied the scowl that occupied Sawyer's face. He hadn't looked this miserable since that first week after the crash.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, alright? Just leave me the hell alone."

Dean snorted as he rested back against the debris and shook his head. "Dude, it's a small beach and word travels fast…what happened?" He glanced back over at Sawyer who rolled his eyes and looked away. Dean shook his head as he glanced around at the rest of the items Sawyer still had to move to the other beach before something caught his attention. "Where's the Halliburton?"

"Oh, this day just keeps getting better and better," Sawyer murmured as he sat up. "Kate got Jack to come and get it from me."

Dean studied Sawyer's face before he checked him up and down and snorted in disbelief. "You don't look bruised and bloody, so I can't imagine that he was actually able to leave with it."

"Yeah, well…he did," Sawyer told him. "But, that's only because I don't feel like having the antibiotics that are keeping my arm from rotting off withheld from me."

The casual smile on Dean's face melted as he digested Sawyer's words. "Are you telling me that Jack threatened to withhold medical treatment from the stash of OUR medication until you did something he wanted?"

"Ding ding ding," Sawyer drawled. "Fellas tell him what he's won."

Dean's jaw clenched as he pushed himself up and stalked toward the tree line. He had helped gather that medication. He had been there for everything Jack had wanted from him. Hell, he'd been there for everything Kate had wanted from him and they were both content to treat the rest of the survivors with acts of oppression. "This ends now."

He tried to stomp down his anger as he stalked through the jungle towards the caves, but nothing that he thought of was helping. He tried to think of his brother…of eventually finding him, but then his anger would return when he realized that they shouldn't have even been separated in the first place.

He tried to think of his father…how he was probably close to finding the thing that killed his mother, but then his anger would return when realized that he wasn't there to help him find and kill the damn thing.

He even tried to think positively of Jack…the do-gooder doctor that hadn't wanted to euthanize somebody to end their suffering because it went against what he believed in, but then his anger would return when he realized that he had been among the masses that was fooled by him and his act.

Dean covered the trek to the caves in record time and stalked through the opening, astonished to find them empty save for Jack who had Kate's arm grasped strongly in his hand. "I want the truth. Just this once," Jack demanded as he stared her down.

"That's pretty damn priceless coming from you," Dean yelled out. He raised his eyebrows as Jack and Kate both turned in his direction, Kate's expression translated to surprise while Jack just looked weary.

"Dean, it's not a good time," Jack told him.

"What happens if I tell you that I don't give a shit?" Dean yelled out. "You gonna stop my antibiotics too?"

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked, her eyes wide as they moved from Dean to Jack.

"What the hell do you think I'm talking about, Kate? You wanted that case and you asked Jack to get it for you. What was he gonna do? Fight Sawyer for it? No, he used his only bargaining chip instead," Dean told her.

Kate looked up at him in shock before it faded to disappointed understanding. Dean was hardly surprised, she had wanted that case and knew Jack would have moved the entire island to get it for her. He looked down at the items that were laid out next to the Halliburton.

"Is that what this was about? Some useless money and a couple of guns?" Dean asked incredulously. "What were you gonna do with them? Help keep order a little better?"

"What the hell is your problem?" Jack yelled out.

"I'm not the one with the problem," Dean told him. "I've spent my entire life helping people in the best way I could. I may not have earned a fancy degree or received a shit ton of praise for it, but I do what I can because I know that the world is a shit place. You got all that and all you're expected to do, in return, is follow a simple oath, but no. You'd rather play at god."

"It would have been dangerous if Sawyer found those guns," Jack argued.

"Based on what?" Dean exploded. "Your personal opinion of him? Is it because he's fought you at every turn? Jack, if you add up both of your faults since the crash, you're pretty much even," Dean told him. "You threatening to withhold medicine is just as bad as him fooling the island into thinking he had Shannon's inhalers."

Jack opened his mouth to argue before he hung his head in shame as Dean's words rang true. He turned to Kate as she looked over at him in startled curiosity.

"And you…"

"Dean, I didn't know that he'd tell Sawyer that," Kate defended herself.

"Drop the innocent act, Kate. I know you've probably survived this long by batting the doe eyes and getting what you want, but you're gonna end up hurting someone and I have to wonder if you even care."

He reached down and grabbed a box of ammo and a gun and tucked the gun into the back of his jeans. "If anything like this happens again, I'm taking back the medicine that I found and letting the entire group decide if we need to continue to follow you."

* * *

Dean got back to the beach in time to see Sawyer as he moved several of his items close to Dean's tent. Hurley was at the new signal fire with Shannon and Sayid and Charlie was pacing back and forth in front of what had to be his tent.

"How's it feel to be the hero of the beach?" Dean asked as he took a seat next to Rose. He waited as her head remained down with her eyes closed for a few more moments before she nodded and then looked over at him, a welcoming smile on her face.

"Dean, how are you?" She asked as Dean offered her a full bottle of water.

"Me? Well, I'm just dandy. And yourself?" He smiled at her question as she rolled her eyes around a smirk and took the offered water.

"Still as charming as ever, I see," she told him as she bumped her shoulder against his and unscrewed the cap to take a modest drink. "So, what makes me such a hero?"

"Oh, I just noticed Charlie helping you out earlier, figured I'd let you know that it was noticed," he told her.

"Well, thanks dear, but I didn't do it for thanks or acknowledgement," she told him. She smiled over at him bright before it dulled down a bit as her gaze rested behind him. He turned to see Charlie almost right next to him as he took a seat on his other side.

"Your husband was in the tail section of the plane?" Charlie asked as he stared out at the fire.

Dean looked back over at Rose as she clutched at the gold ring that hung from a chain around her neck. "Yes, he was…but he'll be back," she promised him. "Dean's little brother's out there too."

"Sam," Dean offered as Charlie let out a deep sigh. "I guarantee you that by now he's stopped waiting to be found and decided to come and find me."

"You really think they're still alive?" Charlie asked.

"I know Sam is," Dean told him.

"Bernard too," Rose answered.

"How?"

"I can't speak for Dean, but for me…I just know," she told him.

"The others, they say you're in denial," Charlie told her. "And you…that you went into that jungle and got injured for nothing."

Dean let out a derisive snort as he shook his head in amusement. "Clearly I care more for my brother than what these guys have to say about me."

"It's a fine line between denial and faith," Rose told him as she nodded her head at Dean's statement. "And Charlie? Much better on our side."

Charlie digested her words as his face scrunched up and tears fell down his cheeks. "Help me, please. I don't know what to do."

"Oh baby, we're not the ones that can help you," Rose told him sadly as she reached for his hand across Dean's lap. She clutched at Charlie's hand while he continued to tremble and sob before she reached up and grabbed Dean's and placed it on top of theirs.

"Oh no…Rose, I don't think…" Dean began as he tried to pull his hand away.

"Hush and just acknowledge that life is happening around you and that no matter how hard it gets, you still get to participate in this gift," Rose told him as she nodded her head over at Charlie. Dean glanced back over at him and couldn't help but notice how broken Charlie looked. He'd lost Claire and he clearly blamed himself. Was now, really, the appropriate time to have a crisis of faith?

"Yeah, ok…go ahead," Dean consented as he placed his other hand on top of theirs, bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"Heavenly Father…we thank you for bringing us together tonight. We ask that you show Charlie the path to your infinite love and keep him safe in your presence. We ask that you carry his burdens for him in this difficult time. We ask that you be a guiding light to Dean and his brother and show them the way back to each other…"

Dean let out a calming breath as he listened to Rose's soft voice as she thanked God for the gift of life and asked Him to keep a vigilant watch and guide everybody on the island but herself.

* * *

The day couldn't have been any better on any other Tuesday afternoon that had ever existed. The grass was cut short and smelt like a sweet summer day as he watched the young man fly a kite in front of him. Paradise. That's what this was…at least it was to the man in front of him.

He watched as the beautiful Tuesday afternoon dimmed and faded away from him and he startled as the scene was replaced with a room decorated like the Palace of Versailles.

"Why have I been brought here?" he asked to the open room.

"Whoa whoa…calm down. Father just wanted me to give you a message," a voice spoke up as the room doubled in occupancy.

He studied the person in front of him dubiously before he shook his head. "Father has a message for me?"

"Yes, strangely enough. As it turns out, the eldest son has had a tiny, what some would call miniscule, stab of faith," the new voice spoke uninterestingly. "It seems dear old daddy thinks that it's almost time."

"Which means…" he began.

"What it means, Castiel, is that it's time for you to prepare."

**Author's Note: Ok, I FINALLY got this one done! The holidays have been SUPER stressful and I have to admit that I'm glad to have them out of the way. Is anybody else super psyched to get rid of 2011? I had a hugely crappy year and I'm excited to get a new and better year started. Well, as better a year as I can make it! Happy New Year to all my readers…a new chapter should be up soon! Oh…P.S, please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

_The air tasted stale as it grew foggy and lingered almost solid in certain areas around him. He roughly wiped his eyes, hoping to bring the world into focus and figure out where he was, but once the haze of a jammed palm in his eyes socket died down, the unnatural haze of the world around him remained. "I guess they changed their plans after two of them got killed," he heard a faraway voice speak behind him. He slowly spun around and lidded his eyes against the magnified rays of the sun as his mind finally recognized Ana Lucia and Goodwin in the middle of an intense stare down._

"_Ana?" He asked out loud, surprised with how slow his voice sounded as he propelled towards their location. He glanced down, in shock, at his immobile legs, both feet planted next to the other, while he continued to move, almost as if he were on a tram._

"_Do you wanna take a break?" Goodwin asked as he motioned to a clearing right behind them. _

_Sam watched as Ana Lucia turned and studied the area that Goodwin had indicated. Her gaze lingered on the cleared space complete with rocks for seating before she turned back to Goodwin and awarded him with a weary nod. "Yeah, that's a good idea," she answered as she moved farther away from Sam despite his constant travel._

"_Hey, wait…what's going on?" Sam asked, his voice louder than it had been moments before. He seethed as both Goodwin and Ana Lucia effectively ignored him while he continued to move forward against his will._

"_Hey, can't you guys here me?" Sam asked as he got closer to the both of them and stopped so suddenly that he hitched forward before he managed to catch himself. "Hey, I'm talking to you…" his eyes went wide as he reached forward to grab Ana's arm and watched his hand go straight through her._

"_Oh god, I'm dead," he muttered as a lump formed in his throat. He almost shivered as a cold sweat commenced at several of the major points on his body before he realized that spirits couldn't sweat. _

"_Ok, if I'm not dead then what the hell is going on?" Sam demanded as he stared down at his hands. They looked normal enough. He clapped them together and smiled as the expected noise reverberated through the jungle. His expression turned to stone when he realized that Ana Lucia and Goodwin hadn't heard it as they both took seats on the rocks in the clearing and faced each other, a mask of suspicion on Ana's face while Goodwin pretended to be nonchalant._

"_Why can't you see me?" Sam asked as he knelt down in front of Ana Lucia and waved his hands in front of her face._

"_Can I have the knife?" Goodwin asked out of the blue. Sam glanced over his shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow at his tone. He'd heard that tone before, once, when Dean and he had been in a prank war and Dean had been trying to set his mind at ease by feigning ignorance. It had ended with a trip to the emergency room for second degree burns after he had washed his hair with shampoo that Dean had laced with Nair. John Winchester had been less than thrilled._

_He turned around fully and studied Goodwin as he planted a comforting yet smug smile on his face while Ana Lucia tilted her head in question. Goodwin's smile grew as he withdrew a piece of fruit and motioned down to it with his eyes. No, something wasn't right. "Ana, don't give him your knife," Sam told her, his eyes still fixed on Goodwin._

_He let out a startled gasp as Ana's hand extended through Sam's abdomen, the knife nestled in her palm for Goodwin to take at his leisure. He jumped out of the way and couldn't help but scoff as Goodwin took the knife and cut into the fruit he was holding and extended it for Ana Lucia to take._

"_Thank you," she said, cautiously, as she examined the piece of fruit in front of her for a moment before she let out a deep sigh. "Where do you think they got it?" she asked right before she bit into her food. Goodwin stared up at her, his head tilted in confusion before she clarified. "I mean, they don't even wear shoes. Where'd they get an army knife?"_

"_No, this is all wrong, Ana…you have to hear me. You can't stay here," Sam demanded as he noticed the calculated but slightly carefree look in Goodwin's eyes start to change._

"_Sorry?" Goodwin asked, a curious chuckle punctuating his question as he visibly held the knife closer to himself._

"_The knife," she elucidated and pointed at the object she had referred to, still clutched in Goodwin's grip. "It's U.S. Military."_

_Goodwin tore his eyes away from Ana Lucia as he turned the knife over and gave it an inquisitive look. "Here," she said as she held her hand out in front of her. Goodwin pulled the knife further away from her by the smallest fraction of an inch, but Sam could tell that Ana Lucia had noticed it. So had he. "I'll show you," she told him as she kept her hand held out._

_Goodwin stared down at her proffered hand for a moment longer before he turned the knife so that he had the blade gripped and the handle extended towards her. She gave him an easy smile as she grabbed the knife and pointed to a marking near the base of the blade on one side. "You see the tank stamp? It's nice. Probably twenty years old."_

_Sam was already aware that that mark was on the blade. He had glimpsed it the first night they had found it, but he couldn't control his shock that Ana Lucia had also known that it was there. Furthermore, he was surprised that she not only had to show the stamp to Goodwin, but that she had to explain it to him. Mr. Peace Corps should have been able to recognize that stamp._

"_You don't see these anymore," she continued. "Yet here it is…on this island," she looked up away from the knife and glanced over at the horizon, her somnolent gaze trained on the exact spot where Sam stood in front of her before she looked away again. "Weird, huh?"_

_Goodwin nodded disinterestedly as he bit into the fruit he had cut while Ana Lucia let out a deeply frustrated sigh. "Can I ask you something?"_

_Goodwin watched her for a moment before his grin grew and he gave her a small nod. "Sure, Ana."_

"_When you ran out of the jungle…the day of the crash, how did you find Bernard up in the tree?"_

_Sam glanced over at Goodwin and was instantly disappointed that neither of them could see the curiosity stretched across his face while Goodwin's smile vanished. "I heard him shouting from the beach."_

"_From the beach," Ana Lucia repeated with a skeptical chuckle. _

_Goodwin took a final bite of his fruit before he threw the rind away from him and let out a condescending sigh as he wiped his sticky hands on his pants. "Why are you asking me about that, Ana?"_

"_Did he see you out there?" Ana asked, a slight hitch invading her voice before she squared her shoulders and trained her ferocious gaze on the man in front of her. "Is that why you pretended to be one of us?"_

_Sam's eyes went wide as his attention snapped back to Goodwin in shock. He knew it. All this time, his gut had been telling him that something was wrong with Goodwin. How in the hell had Ana figured it out on her own?_

"_You ran out of the jungle, ten minutes after the crash. You weren't wet," she continued to accuse him. "You were never even in the ocean."_

_Sam's mind immediately went back to the day of the crash. He had been soaking wet and completely exhausted when he finally made it to the shore and collapsed onto the sand. It wasn't a moment later when he had looked up and witnessed the tail end of the plane submerge completely. Ana Lucia was right. Goodwin had been completely dry when he ran out of the jungle for help. How in the hell had he missed that?_

"_Where are they? Your friends?" Ana Lucia asked as she waved the knife in his direction._

"_No, Ana, who cares?"Sam snapped as he knelt back down in front of her and waved his arms frantically. "You have to run…NOW!" _

"_Nathan, what did you…" she began, her eyes not straying to Sam as he continued to try and get her attention._

"_If you had cut off his finger and he still had told you he was on the plane, then I think maybe you would have started to believe that you had the wrong guy," Goodwin grimly informed her._

_Sam stood up straight and slowly stepped in front of Ana Lucia, even aware that they couldn't see him, he was desperate to keep her safe. "Did you kill him?" she asked from behind Sam._

"_Nathan was not a good person," Goodwin informed her smugly. "That's why he wasn't on the list."_

"_What about the kids?" Ana Lucia asked after a pregnant pause. "Did you kill them too?"_

"_The children are fine," Goodwin told her, an annoyed lilt flooding through his voice and features. He allowed a triumphant smile to slowly cross his features. "They're better off now."_

_Ana Lucia glanced up at him, a dark expression opposing Goodwin's smug smile before she lunged the knife at him so quickly that Sam barely had time to get out of the way. He looked back at the couple as they wrestled for the knife and let out a strangled curse when Goodwin grabbed her arm as she lunged at him again and pushed her to the ground._

"_No, damnit. Ana, get up!" Sam yelled as he scurried forward and knelt down to help her up. He let out a deep roar as his hands passed straight through her while Goodwin tried to wrestle the knife out of her hand. He barely noticed when Ana Lucia dropped the knife and Good win managed to grab it before he pushed it into her throat and slid it across her olive colored skin._

"_No," Sam cried, his eyes wide as he watched the steady line of crimson flow freely from her broken skin. She coughed out, her own eyes wide and filled with fear and pain as the blood that hadn't yet escaped from her throat coated her lips while she tried to catch her breath. "None of this would have happened if you had just left me alone," Goodwin spat down at her._

_Sam could feel the knot in his throat grow tighter as he watched Ana Lucia's struggling slow to a stop before she grew completely still, her scared eyes fixed up at him where he stood. He turned back to Goodwin, his rage barely contained while the murderous bastard picked up the supplies that they had both placed on the ground and turned to give Ana Lucia one last victorious smile. "Now that you're out of the way, I won't have any trouble getting Sam to Ben…"_

Sam let out a deep gasp as he jack-knifed out of his sleep and clutched at the makeshift bedroll beneath him. He shivered as the wind hit on the sweat that seemed to cover his entire body while his eyes darted around the clearing in fear. "Sam, are you ok?" Libby asked from her spot next to him, her face conveying the concern that her voice held.

"Ana Lucia, where is she?" Sam frantically choked out. He sat up and glanced around the camp, frustrated that his eyes still hadn't adjusted to the morning sun before he finally found Ana Lucia still asleep on her bedroll, but stirring slightly. He smiled in relief before it melted away at the sight of Goodwin from his position next to her, staring at her back with a shit eating grin.

He stood up, intent to wipe that stupid grin of off Goodwin's face as Ana Lucia's stirrings grew and she turned to face Goodwin head on, a shocked look on her face at his close proximity. "Morning," he told her in response to her questioning look.

"Morning," she returned as Sam stalked closer towards them and pushed the sleeves on his flannel over-shirt up past his elbows. _No use ruining a good shirt while you kill an asshole_, his brother's voice rang in his head at the same moment that Cindy ran anxiously into their clearing.

"Ana Lucia, he's gone," she announced as she stopped in front of their group and nearly doubled over in an effort to catch her breath.

"What?" Ana Lucia asked as she and everyone else shot up from their casual spots and flocked closer to Cindy.

"Nathan's gone," Cindy repeated dourly. An uneasy silence descended upon the group before they all seemed to gather their facilities and rushed past Cindy towards the tiger pit. He couldn't be gone. It wasn't possible.

"_Maybe he found some way to disguise himself down there_," Sam suggested to himself futily. When Ana Lucia had shoved Nathan down there, Sam had taken the time to really look at her work and, after some assessment, he had been equal parts impressed and weary of the quality. She had made it so that Nathan could be watched at all times.

He took a deep breath as he arrived at the pit and glanced down, his stomach plummeting at the sight before him. Empty. Sam's eyes flicked up to Goodwin for a small moment before he returned his attention to the pit and scrutinized the area for any holes or vines that Nathan could have used in order to escape. Nothing.

"Ana, what are you gonna do?" Bernard spoke up. At his questioning tone, Sam glanced up and tilted his head in contemplation when all he saw was Ana Lucia's retreating back as she headed away from them and towards the direction of their camp.

"They found us," she told them without even glancing back at them as her stride and determination remained consistent. "It's time to move."

A sense of foreboding settled over their small group as the murmurs began regarding their inevitable relocation. None of them noticed Sam's deliberate gaze trained on Goodwin.

* * *

Dean hoisted the backpack he was wearing farther up his shoulders with a biting curse as it, annoyingly, began to slip. It's not that he particularly enjoyed walking into the mystical acid trip forest, but if volunteering to get the water for the beach gave him a few precious moments of solitude, then he was all for it. He only wished that Sawyer had been in possession of a larger backpack for him to borrow.

Dean smiled as he snorted at his own thoughts. "A little less like borrow and more like traded for two full bottles of water," he murmured to himself. He could feel the abundant sweat that had collected on his forehead begin to slip down his face as he finally saw the entrance to the cave. If he was anything more than sweaty and tired it was thirsty and his dry tongue made it more aware to him before a menacing chill passed over his skin and brought the hairs on his arms to a standing position. "What the hell?"

"Man, I suck," a young voice sullenly stated from down the embankment near the caves.

"Why in the hell is Walt all the way out here if Michael's back at the beach," Dean asked himself as he shrugged off his backpack and placed it at the entrance. He took a few timid steps down the hill before he collected his footing and managed to generate a decent speed. It was until he was halfway down that he realized that Walt wasn't alone as Locke's voice sounded through the path of trees, fueling him forward. _Locke's too busy to hunt, but he can hang out with Walt?_

Dean touched down at the bottom and continued onward through the brush until he arrived, very quietly, behind Locke, Walt and Boone as they all stared down a tree several yards away. _Maybe I should tell them that the tree's gonna win the staring contest every time, _Dean thought.

"You might wanna take it easy on him," Boone suggested all of a sudden.

Locke shook his head at Boone's suggestion as he pointed to the tree that they were all focused on. "See that knot, Walt? I want you to aim for it, right here," he told him as he indicated the knot in the tree. "Focus on it, alright? Picture it in your mind's eye. You know what that is, right? The mind's eye?"

_Oh, you have got to be kidding me, _Dean thought as he mentally talked himself into avoiding an audible scoff while Walt nodded his head in understanding. "Like a picture in your head or..."

"That's right," Locke cut him off. "Now do it again. But see it. See it before you do it. Visualize the path. See it. See it."

Dean could feel his eyes roll on their own as he thought back to all of the lessons his father had forced on him when he was growing up. Never, in all those years, had a mind's eye come into the mix. In fact, he was pretty sure that if his father had ever mentioned a mind's eye, Dean would have been expected to perform an exorcism ritual to go with those unfamiliar words.

He leaned back against a different tree and watched closely as Walt concentrated on the tree in front of him and lined up his shot before he threw the knife that Locke had handed him. Bulls-eye.

"Whoa," Boone commented as Dean stood back up, his eyes wide.

"No shit," Dean murmured.

All three of them spun around, a huge smile on Walt's face as they finally noticed the additional presence in the clearing. "Dean! Didja see what I did?" Walt exclaimed as he jumped up and down excitedly.

"Uh…yeah, dude. That was pretty amazing," he managed to tell him as he thought back to his own knife throwing lessons and then Sam's. He'd never seen anybody land a bulls-eye like that as a beginner.

"I'll say," Locke agreed. "I knew you had it in you, Walt."

"It was weird," Walt told Locke. "I actually saw it in my mind or something, like it was real."

"Who's to say it wasn't?" Locke asked with a proud smile.

"The whole damn world," Dean disagreed. "Walt, man, I have to say that that was one helluva shot, but it was nothing but beginner's luck. You can't visualize something, especially with a 'mind's eyes,' and then make it happen," Dean explained to him. "Hell, if you could, my brother and I wouldn't be on this island and I'd have a bacon cheeseburger in my hands."

"It really is a shame the lack of faith you have," Locke sighed as he handed the throwing knife back to Walt.

"Oh yeah, real shame there Darth Vader," Dean snorted. He glanced across the clearing quickly before he shook his head as he realized that he had been right. Michael wasn't with them. "Is Michael aware that you guys are letting his kid play with throwing knives? I can't imagine he's gonna be happy about all of this."

"You'd imagine right," a voice spoke up from behind Dean. They all turned as Michael stomped into the clearing, enraged, and made his way directly over to his son. "What the hell is going on?" His anger rose when he stopped in front of Walt and noticed the knife in his hand. "Give me that," he snapped and yanked it away.

"But, I was…"

"Dean, would you mind bringing my son and Vincent back to the beach?" Michael asked over his shoulder, not even aware of the dejected look that passed over his son's face.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll keep an eye on him until you get back," Dean told him as he quickly motioned Walt over to him. _Please let him be like me and not like Sam. Please let him be like me and not like Sam…_Dean repeated to himself as Walt barely glanced at Dean.

"But, Mr. Locke was…" _Sam. Definitely Sam._

"Now, little man," Michael interrupted him.

Walt's shoulders hunched forward as he hung his head and walked over to Dean to follow him back to camp. Dean let Walt lead the way as they headed away from the clearing, all too aware of how he must be feeling. How many years had he fought his dad to let him hunt only to have John Winchester demand that he watch out for Sammy instead?

"Dude, you have to know that your dad's just watching out for you. He loves you," Dean spoke up to the stomping boy in front of him.

"He doesn't love me," Walt argued. "He doesn't even know me."

"I'm sure it feels like that…"

"No!" Walt yelled as he spun around on Dean. "I'm tired of nobody listening to me."

Dean held up his hands in surrender as he stared down at the boy with wide eyes. "Hey, ok, calm down. I'll listen to you, you just gotta calm down first," he bargained.

Walt stared up at him for a few more moments before he swallowed his pride and nodded his head. "Ok, that's better. Now, you said nobody listens to you, but I happen to be a great listener, so go ahead…let loose?"

Walt stared up at him in surprise as he opened and closed his mouth several times before he awarded Dean with an awkward smile. "I don't know what to talk about."

Dean couldn't help but laugh at his honesty. "Dude, I'm not the most educated person on the planet, but you arguing about nobody listening to you and then having nothing to talk about when someone does listen…I think that's the very definition of irony." He told him. He glanced around at the foliage as he wracked his mind for something to talk about. Anything. _How the hell did I keep Sam entertained when he was this age?_ He thought.

"_Dean, stop treating me like a baby!" _

The realization struck Dean that ten years old was the appropriate age when most kids wanted nothing more to be treated like adults, but were still too much like children for that to happen and he couldn't help but let out a deep chuckle. "Are you into cars, at all?" He asked and watched as Walt shrugged but graced him with an interested smile.

"Well, back in Los Angeles, even though my baby's probably already been towed to a police compound, which makes me twitch to even think about, I have a 1967 Chevrolet Impala waiting for me to come and get her. Dude, you should see her...flat black exterior, leather seats, cassette deck…"

"Cassette deck?" Walt piped in as he furrowed his brow. "Don't you have a CD player?"

* * *

"What about Dracula," Walt exclaimed as he turned over pocket aces. Dean looked down at Walt's cards and then at his own before he flinched at his hand.

"I thought you said you'd never played poker before," Dean observed as he slid the pile of seashells to Walt.

"I haven't, but I learn games pretty fast," Walt explained to him. "Don't change the subject…what about Dracula?"

"Oh yeah, he's not a real person," Dean told him with a shake of his head. "Don't get me wrong, Stoker based him off of this Romanian General, Vlad the Impaler, but there was never any actual Dracula."

He laid out two cards for himself and two for Walt and checked his. Eight of Spades and Two of Hearts. "Crap," Dean muttered as he threw his back in the pile.

"You fold?" Walt asked as he turned over his King and Queen of Diamonds.

"Yeah, because I keep getting nothing but crap cards. Yours though…I definitely think you are one lucky kid," Dean told him.

"Thanks," Walt said as he put his cards back in the pile and grabbed the deck from Dean's hands to attempt to shuffle them like Dean had. "What about the Wolfman?"

"The Wolfman?" Dean asked as he watched the kid shuffle the cards slowly. "You mean werewolves?"

"No, the Wolfman. Like the guy that turned into a wolf and played basketball," Walt explained to him.

"Dude, that's Teen Wolf…not the Wolfman," Dean corrected him.

"Fine, Teen Wolf. What about him?" Walt asked.

"You seriously want to know if it's believable for a guy to turn into a werewolf at will to make himself a better basketball player?" Dean asked in disbelief. "Mind you, maybe the added endurance could help with a basketball game, but he'd probably finish up the victory by eating the hearts of every person in that arena that he could get his hands on."

"Ew," Walt commented as he attempted to shuffle the deck again.

"There you are, you jackass," Sawyer huffed as he approached Dean and Walt.

"Hey, not in front of the kid," Dean snapped at him as Walt looked up at Sawyer and awarded him with a friendly grin.

"What not in front of the kid?" Sawyer asked as he took a seat next to Dean and held out his hand for a water bottle. "Swearing?"

"Yeah, you never know if his dad has rules against that or something," Dean explained to him as he stared down at Sawyer's empty hand with a raised eyebrow. "Does he?" he asked Walt.

"I don't know," Walt told him honestly with a sharp shrug.

"If there ain't any rules that he's familiar with, then there's no problem," Sawyer told him with a smile.

"Not that I can speak from experience, but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't work that way you douche bag," Dean told Sawyer.

"Oh, and I'm sure explaining what a douche bag is to the kid is a much better avenue than the word jackass," Sawyer smiled back while Dean winced. "By the way, if you're wondering why I still have my hand out, it's because I'm thirsty and would like the water that you promised me."

Dean winced as he realized that the backpack full of empty water bottles was still at the entrance to the cave. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm gonna stay thirsty?" Sawyer asked.

"I left the bottles at the caves," Dean admitted.

Sawyer stared down at him in frustration before he tried to shake it off. "I was right before when I called you a jackass. Think you can get back down there and finish what you told the entire beach you'd do?"

"Geez, now who's being the jackass?" Dean asked snidely. "Can you watch Walt for me until I get back?"

"That'd be a big no, considering I'm probably the last person his daddy wants him around. Just take him with you," Sawyer suggested as he stood up and walked back to his tent.

* * *

Dean was amazed that the backpack he had left at the entrance earlier in the day was still in the exact same spot as he picked it up and swung it around on his shoulders. "Think you'd mind helping me fill the bottles up for the beach?"

Walt smiled up at him and nodded his head vigorously before Dean awarded him with a grateful smile. If he knew one thing about kids it was that making them feel needed was the way to go. "Hey, I thought you two were heading to the beach," Michael announced the moment they entered the caves.

"We were at the beach," Dean told him. "Unfortunately, I forgot that the whole reason I was up here was to get water for everyone and I had to come back. I didn't wanna leave Walt down there by himself, so I brought him with me to help."

"I mean, it's good you two came back, I was gonna come get him so he could help me with something," Michael admitted with a smile.

"What's going on?" Dean asked as Walt moved away from Dean and took a seat on one of the rocks in the cave before he pulled out a comic book and began to flip through the pages.

"I'm just sick of everybody making themselves so damn comfortable on this island…nobody even cares about putting forth the effort to find a way off," Michael told him.

"Yeah, that arrow in my shoulder was just a riot and something that I did for the fun feelings it left me with," Dean told him sardonically.

"And you went into that jungle to find your brother, not get off this island."

"It's more than a little implied that once I find Sam, I'll dig a damn tunnel to China to get us back to civilization," Dean corrected him. "Besides, what plans brewing in that head of yours that lit a fire under your ass?"

"I'm building a raft," Michael informed him. "And, please, don't try to talk me out of it like Sayid and Jack. I refuse to let my son spend the rest of his life playing survivor on this damn island," he seethed before he turned his attention to his son. "Come on, Walt. I need your help with something."

"I'm doing stuff," Walt argued as he held up his comic book.

"Hey," Dean barked out which caused Walt to look up from his comic book. "I don't know what the rules were when you were growing up, but mine involved a little respect for my father. So, don't argue with your dad," Dean admonished him.

Walt stared up at Dean for a few moments before he nodded his head and stood up to go with his father, while Michael awarded Dean with a tight smile. "Thanks man."

"Don't worry about it. Good luck with the raft…it should be interesting to see if you can find a piece of outhouse or something to use for a sail," Dean told him.

"That's your only raft building knowledge? What Tom Hanks was able to do?" Michael asked Dean with a tight grin.

"Is yours any more first-hand experience than watching Gilligan and the Professor argue or Tom Hanks get advice from a volleyball?" Dean questioned with a chuckle as he continued into the caves. There were very few people around, he noticed, but he did see Jack, Sayid and Shannon, the latter toiling away at the maps that Sayid had been working on.

"Hey, how goes the translating gig?" Dean asked as he lowered himself down next to the stream and cupped some water in his hand to drink.

"As good as it can go when it's the writings of a crazy lady," Shannon told him with a shrug. She looked up at him sheepishly before she put down her pencil and faced him head on. "Sayid told me that you suggested me to help him out."

"Yeah, well, nobody else knew French, figured he could use the help," Dean told her.

"It's more than that," Shannon countered as she shook her head. "I know what people think about me and I know that I haven't helped to prove them wrong, but it was nice for someone to believe in me, just for a moment."

"Look, contrary to belief, I'm not that much of a dick," Dean told her as he unzipped his bag and took out the first bottle to fill with water. He dipped it and waited until it was sufficiently full before he handed it and the cap to Shannon for her to close while he took out another.

"As much as you may not believe it, I'm not that much of a bitch," she admitted back with a sigh as she screwed the cap on the bottle and set it off to the side for him. Dean glanced at her from over his shoulder with a grin as he shook his head in understanding. She blushed deeply as he handed her another bottle and cap which she took and repeated her actions before her gaze snapped to the cave entrance and she stood up.

Dean followed her gaze to Locke and Boone as they walked in, glad that he could finally talk to them about getting some productive hunting done. He scrutinized them and let out a frustrated groan at the realization that they had come back empty handed once again. "Boone," Shannon exclaimed as she walked over to him. Dean noticed the weary glance Boone threw to Locke, who returned it before he left him alone to his sister. "Hi. So are you guys just going to keep coming back without any food?

Boone gave her an agitated look as he lowered his pack and rifled through it. "Hey, I'm serious."

"Uh-huh," he acknowledged her disinterestedly.

"What's going on with you, Boone? Could you be acting any weirder?"

"Shannon," he began, his tone alone suggesting that he wasn't in the mood to deal with her. "You've been a functioning bulimic since junior high. I thought you'd be excited about dropping a size or two."

Shannon balked at her brother's words before she regrouped herself slightly. "Well, since you're not having any luck with hunting maybe you should help Michael," she bit out. "He's building a raft," Dean noticed Boone's interest pique at her declaration while Shannon just continued to talk. "I was thinking I would help him out, maybe finally get the hell out of here. Why don't you help me?"

Boone avoided eye contact with her as he seemed to genuinely contemplate her offer before he offhandedly shook his head in a bored manner. "No, thanks."

It was one thing for Dean and Shannon to have been at it for the last several weeks. They were practical strangers and both had habits and attitudes that clearly clashed with other. For Boone to be treating his own sister like this…it was unacceptable. "Hey Boone," Dean interrupted them as he threw a quick wink to Shannon before he schooled his features and faced her brother head on. "Since you and Locke haven't managed to find anything to hunt and you aren't willing to help out your own sister, why don't I join your hunting party instead?"

"Again, no thanks," Boone told him.

"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly, but I wasn't asking for your permission," Dean clarified. "You two go into that jungle every single day and come back empty handed every single day. Now, if it were just you, I'd chalk it up to the fact that there probably aren't any Mastercard machines in the jungle, but Locke? He's a hunter. I've seen it with my own eyes. There's something out there that you two are doing instead."

Boone let out a sarcastic chuckle before he locked his gaze with Dean's in what Dean assumed was meant to be intimidating. "Why don't you mind your own damn business," he hissed as he got closer to Dean, almost bumping his chest with his own.

"You think a good old fashioned stare down and chest bump are gonna scare me, Boone? It probably worked in prep school when Waldo wouldn't stop bugging you and your friends, but I'll take you down a peg or two if I have to," Dean told him. He held his ground as Boone continued to stare him in the eye before he deflated slightly and backed off.

"DAMNIT! What is wrong with you," Dean heard Michael yell from across the caves. He turned at the commotion and focused his attention elsewhere as Boone took the opportunity and ran at him. He tackled him to the ground and glared down at him, his eyes slitted dangerously.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that…"

Dean scoffed as he leaned his head back slightly and brought it forward with all the force he could muster into Boone's forehead and smiled victoriously as the younger man's eyes snapped shut against the pain. Dean pushed him off of him as he limply fell to the cave floor and grabbed his temples while Dean stood up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes as a few lingering stars appeared behind his eyes. "I'm sorry, Boone…you were saying something about my tone of voice? Or maybe it was what I was saying to you, I guess I didn't quite catch it."

"I told you to stay away from my son," Michael yelled at Locke. Dean straightened up and shot a warning glance to Jack who returned it with a nod as he stood up from the stream he had been crouched down near. They both watched as Michael leaned forward and whispered into Locke's ear before he pulled away and shot him with a determined look.

"Might wanna go help your master," Dean murmured to Boone as he leaned forward and helped him get back on his feet.

"He's not my master," Boone hissed as he pulled his arm away from Dean roughly and shook off another dizzy spell.

"Whatever, man, just go," Dean told him as he pointed to the cave entrance where Locke had retreated. Boone shot him another withering glare before he turned tail and followed after Locke.

"You're a jerk," Walt announced, killing the silence in the caves as he stared up at his father in resentment.

"What'd you say to me?" Michael demanded.

"Mr. Locke didn't do anything wrong. He's my friend," Walt informed him.

"He's not your friend anymore. I'm looking out for you."

"You don't care about me," Walt scoffed at him. "You never cared about me."

"What?" Michael asked incredulously.

"You only showed up after my Mom died. Where were you when I was growing up, huh?" Walt shouted. "Nowhere!"

"Listen, Walt, it's…it's complicated."

"I don't even care. You're not my father," Walt told him.

Dean could see the hurt flash across Michael's face for a brief moment before he swallowed it down and replaced it with anger. Had he been Caucasian, older and had a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand, Dean would've walked across the caves to go hug his own father. "You want to hate me? You want to punish me for something I can't change? Fine. But you will listen to me."

Michael reached behind him and pulled out the comic book that Walt had been skimming through earlier in the day from his back pocket and threw it directly onto the fire. Dean shook his head as Walt followed the book's trajectory and stared it down as the fire consumed it.

"Now, you get over there, and you stay there," Michael commanded as Walt stared up at him with contempt. For a moment, Dean could see his little brother, staring up at their father as John Winchester told him that academics were a waste of time and that they'd be long gone before the science fair even began. "Now!"

Everyone watched as Walt shuffled over to Vincent and picked up his leash before he led his dog away from his father. Dean kept his eyes on Michael and could see the hurt and pain in his eyes as he took a seat on one of the rocks and leaned over so that his knees supported his arms.

"Hey man, you gonna be ok?" Dean asked from above him.

Michael let out a deep sigh before he looked up at Dean and revealed his troubled and anguished eyes. "He's right, you know."

Dean sat down beside him and shook his head at Michael's words. "Who's right about what?"

"Walt. I have no business trying to be his father," Michael admitted.

Dean's forehead furrowed as he digested Michael's words in confusion. "Only, aren't you his father?" he asked.

"I'm the guy that got his mom pregnant. I'm the guy that named him. I'm the guy that watched as she took him away from me. And, I'm the guy that did nothing and let it happen," Michael confessed. "You know, when he was a baby, I landed in the hospital and she came to visit me…Walt's mom."

Dean nodded for him to continue as he saw the tears well up in Michael's eyes. "She wanted me to sign over my parental rights so that her new husband could adopt him. She told me that I was being selfish and that I had to consider Walt. In the end, the attorney side of her won out and I gave up my rights."

"That doesn't make you a bad father," Dean told him.

"Nope, it doesn't make me a father at all," Michael agreed. "It makes me a sperm donor."

"You're here with him now, though," Dean told him before his eyes lit up as a realization entered his mind. "Hey man, you know I've been hanging out with Sawyer, lately, right?"

"Yeah, I heard," Michael told him as he wiped away at the unshed tears in his eyes. "What's that got to do with any of this?"

Dean shrugged off his backpack, reached inside and dug around for a moment before he smiled at his discovery. "The other day, I found something in his stash and decided to take a peak. He was pissed when I told him I was taking it, but we played a few hands of cards and I ended up winning it from him. Apparently, the guy cons a few women into bed to steal their money and then automatically thinks he's got the inside track on living life hard."

"I'm not following," Michael told him.

Dean smiled as he withdrew a small wooden box and handed it to Michael. Michael took the item with shaky hands before he glanced up at Dean with an identical smile. "I only read one of them, but that was just because I wasn't sure what they were and didn't think Sticky Fingers McGee should get to keep them."

"Thank you," Michael told him. "I thought these had gotten lost in the crash."

"That crash may have misplaced some things, but others are still right where they need to be," Dean admitted. "I love my dad, but he's nowhere as committed to being a parent as you are and that means something. Something good."

Michael processed Dean's poignant words with a nod of his head as he stared down at the box in his hands. "Uh dude?" Hurley interrupted them. He waited until Dean and Michael both looked up at him before he nodded his head towards the cave entrance. "Your kid's gone."

"What?" Michael asked.

"He just grabbed the dog and took off," Hurley explained to him.

Michael shook his head incredulously before they both stood up from the rock they were sitting on and shared a knowing look before Michael nodded at Hurley. "I know where he's gone."

"Man, that kid really has problems taking orders…" Dean began.

"Not orders, I don't give my kid orders like he's some damn soldier," Michael corrected Dean. "All I ask is that we respect each other mutually, but it can't be easy for him to respect an absentee parent." Dean couldn't relate to what Michael was talking about as he knew that his childhood and upbringing had been the polar opposite of his notions.

"Dude, where are you guys going?" Hurley asked as they sprinted away from him.

"To find Walt," Dean shouted back as he quickened his spring in order to catch up with Michael as they followed the paths out of the caves that had led Michael to Locke the first time. It didn't take them long as they approached a cluster of trees that Locke and Boone were sitting in the middle of, Locke busy sharpening his knives while Boone sat beside him and watched.

"Well, at least now we know why they aren't managing to bring back any food," Dean muttered incredulously.

"Locke," Michael announced as he entered the trees. "Where the hell is he?"

Locke glanced up at Michael, a curious intrigue stretched across his features as he narrowed his eyes at the question. "What?"

"I'm not in the mood for your games, man," Michael warned him. "Where Walt?"

"Walt's not here, Michael," Locke told him simply with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Don't lie to me," Michael warned him again.

"Hey man, he's not here," Boone chimed in as he stood up from his spot. "Look around…"

Dean and Michael both snapped their gazes over to Boone who seemed to shrink for a moment before he regained himself. "I'm not talking to you."

"I told him this morning that he couldn't be around me anymore," Locke informed Michael. "…trying to respect your wishes."

Michael seemed to digest Locke's words as Boone stood a little taller, his eyes trained on Michael in case he tried to make a move on Locke. Dean moved forward the tiniest bit so that he was now in Boone's view and gave him a similar look for him to stand down while Michael turned away from Locke for a moment before he faced him again.

"Well, if he's not...?" he trailed off. Dean had never seen somebody look so lost in his entire life. Not after burning fellow hunters or realizing that his mother was never coming back.

"Michael, don't panic, he was pretty angry earlier. Maybe he just ran away for a little while," Boone tried to reason with him.

"It's an island and he's just a little kid. Where's he gonna run away to?" Michael questioned, his voice choked with emotion.

"The jungle?" Boone suggested with a shrug.

Dean grimaced as he shared a grim look with Locke and Michael before he shook his head. "You mean the jungle that swallowed up a pregnant girl, pinned an arrow into my shoulder, houses a crazy French lady and makes mysterious growling noises?" he asked.

Locke stood up from his spot and fixed Michael with a determined look. "Let's go find your boy."

Dean trailed behind them as they entered the jungle and couldn't help the frustration he felt that only he and Locke were experienced enough to try and pick up a trail. "Do we have any clue where he could have gone or are we gonna walk around in circles until we stumble onto something?" Boone asked ahead of him.

"He kinda has a point," Dean shouted up at them. "Not that I'm proud to admit that."

"Dude, seriously, can you just cut the shit for now?" Boone asked in an aggravated tone.

"Look, man…considering that of us four, you're the only one to ever enter this jungle and not contribute something to the camp, maybe you should cut the shit," Dean snapped back.

"Michael's never…" Boone began.

"Organized everyone together to pull the rocks free from a cave-in that trapped Jack and Charlie?" Dean interrupted him. "I may not have been here, but I still know what's going on."

"Ok, that's enough you two," Locke shouted.

"He's right, your bickering isn't helping us find my son. You two either help or you go back to the caves, it's as simple as that," Michael shouted. He shook his head disbelievingly at the two of them before he turned his attention back to the trail in front of them, his eyes growing wide as he rushed past Locke and knelt down on the ground.

"Over here," he picked up the item that had caught his attention and studied it in his hands as the other three guys gathered around him.

"Vincent's leash," Dean murmured.

"What the hell would…" Michael began.

"HELP! PLEASE! HELP" Walt screamed. All four of them jumped at the interruption to the normal sounds in the jungle before they each turned to try and pinpoint the direction it had come from.

"Walt?" Michael shouted back as he spun to his right.

"This way," Locke concluded as they all rushed off behind him.

Dean, once again, brought up the rear as they followed the sound of Walt's yelling. He could see Michael's panic grow with each second as Walt's screams became more frantic. It wasn't even a moment later when Dean heard the growls. He reached out and grabbed Boone's arm to stop him and held a finger up to his lips.

"Do you hear that?"

Boone looked up and focused on the noises before his eyes grew. "That doesn't sound like the same noises from before."

"It's not," Dean assured him. "Doesn't mean it's not big though." Dean and Boone exchanged grim looks before they took off behind the others, hoping to catch up with them. They ran up behind them as Locke held Michael still and kept a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet while they both stared down the same thing with wide eyes.

"Holy shit," Dean murmured as he took in the scene before him. "They weren't kidding about the polar bear."

* * *

A polar bear. On a tropical island. "Tell me this place isn't some kind of supernatural vortex and I'll tell you that getting on that damn airplane was a good idea."

"What was that?" Locke asked as he kept his attention in front of him.

"Nothing important," Dean muttered as he trudged along behind Locke and Boone. At least they had managed to get Walt away from the polar bear that had been tearing into a tree to get to him. Still, after all that drama, the boy had only been concerned about the safety of his dog and in a natural response, Locke had volunteered himself, Boone and Dean to go into the jungle to find it.

"_Dean told Boone that he's been wanting to go hunting with us anyways_," Locke had proudly declared.

"_Yeah, for food. Not a live animal_," Dean had argued before he fell in line and followed them out.

"I don't think that whistle's working, John," Boone informed him as he closely watched the older man.

"It's a dog whistle, Boone," Dean informed him. "Didn't you ever watch cartoons?"

"You can't hear everything, Boone," Locke confirmed as he continued to blow into the whistle. "The sooner you learn that, the better."

Dean snorted at Locke's sage advice as the bushes in front of them rustled, forcing Dean's eyes to widen as they each stood straight up at the intrusion.

"Well, I heard that," Boone muttered. "Vincent? Vincent is that you?"

"That can't be Vincent," Dean muttered as he watched the entire bush move higher than Vincent stood. "We should really get…"

Dean snapped his mouth shut at the same time that his eyes grew twice their normal size as a disheveled figure stepped out from behind the foliage and glanced up at them curiously.

"Claire?"

**Author's Note: I intended for this chapter to be posted a week ago, but I'm really not that satisfied with how it turned out. Don't get me wrong, very happy about the Sam parts, but the Dean parts seem a little…meh. Had they not found Claire this episode, I would have skipped it in favor of the next one. Anywho, the next chapter is more than started and shouldn't take as long to get updated. Have I mentioned how much I love the people on alert and people that review this story? You guys are awesome! Keep up the ideas, feedback and kind words...I love them!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or Supernatural.**

"Where did you find her?" Jack rasped out. He rushed forward and held out his arms so that Locke could transfer Claire's unconscious body over to him in order for him to check her over appropriately for any major injuries. Locke handed her over with a wince and paused to catch his breath as Jack ran back into the caves and past several other survivors that were throwing several different questions at him at once.

"She was about a mile north," Locke answered behind him, still winded from carrying her so far across the jungle. "We were looking for the dog."

"Was she conscious?" Jack inquired as he approached a smooth and flat slab of rock and laid her down, gently, while Dean scrambled forward to cradle her head away from the hard surface underneath her.

"She collapsed on Locke," Dean informed him. "I don't even think she was aware that she'd stumbled into us before she passed out."

"Did she say anything?"

Dean and Locke both opened their mouths to answer as the volume from the people around them rose exponentially at once, all either tinged with concern or just plain curiosity. "There are too many people in here by about two dozen," Dean commented.

"I need everybody to back off, okay? We have to give her some air," Jack commanded. He stood and waited as the group that had surrounded them stepped several yards away from the scene before them before he crouched back down to check Claire's vitals. He smiled up at Dean as he handed him a cool, wet washcloth for her head, which he immediately used. "Claire, can you hear me? Wake up now."

"She didn't say anything before she passed out, by the way," Dean told him as he lifted one of her arms and placed his fingers at her pulse point. At least it was strong.

Jack nodded at the information as he continued to dab at her brow. "Hey, Claire? Claire. Wake up now." Relief passed over the both of them as she slowly began to stir and Jack nodded for Dean to move to her other side. "Hey," he smiled down at her, warmly, as she slowly opened her eyes.

Claire glanced up at them for a tiny moment as confusion set into her features only to be replaced by sheer panic. She shifted her attention to the rest of the cave and let out a terrified scream as she became fully aware of how many people were crowded around her. She quickly scooted away from them as Jack and Dean held out their hands calmly as if she were a wild animal until her back hit one of the cave walls and she curled further into herself.

"Claire? It's okay. It's okay," Jack reassured her as he slowly moved towards her.

"Claire, we're not gonna hurt you. You have to calm down," Dean told her as he mirrored Jack's actions. "You're safe."

"Claire, it's us," Charlie added from behind them in a reassuring tone.

"Who are you?" Claire stared up at them in terrified confusion as a few tears leaked from her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks. "Who are you? Who are you people?"

"She's terrified of us," Dean acknowledged as he stood up straight and whirled on the crowd behind them. "Everyone back up. Until she calms down…there are too many people crowding her," he shouted. He stood his ground as everybody from the caves backed away except Locke, Charlie, Jack and himself.

"Claire, you don't remember any of us?" Jack asked skittishly.

"Even me?" Charlie added, hope flooding his voice.

Claire timidly shook her head as she began to visibly compose herself. "Where am I? How did I even get here?"

"What about Ethan?" Jack asked. "Do you remember him from the last few weeks?"

"Weeks?" Claire asked. "What's the date?"

"October 18, 2004," Dean spoke up from behind Charlie and Jack. They both turned and gave him dubious looks as he shrugged them off. "Hey, someone has to keep track of how many days we've been here."

"October 18," Claire commented incredulously. "I don't understand. I don't know any Ethan. I don't remember," her face scrunched up as she shook off the emotions that seemed to have suddenly grabbed onto her before she collected herself. "I don't remember any of you. I don't remember any of this."

"What do you remember?" Charlie asked as he crouched down next to her.

"Um…" she tilted her head and closed her eyes as she searched her mind for the last memory she was in possession of before she re-opened her eyes nervously. "I was on a plane flying to LA from Sydney."

Dean couldn't imagine how they were expected to explain the outcome of that very plane crash as he exchanged dour looks with Charlie and Locke while Jack quickly put on his best comforting doctor face. "Claire, we were all on that plane. It crashed here…on this island," he softly explained to her. "I'm sure you remember your departure date wasn't even in October. We've been here for almost a month."

"No, I'm…I'm due…" Claire told Jack as she quickly cradled her stomach.

"Your baby's fine," Jack reassured her with a smile. "He's kicking, everything's normal. Okay?"

"Jack's a doctor on the outside," Dean explained as her scared expression remained. "It wasn't a picnic getting caught in a plane crash, but the silver lining was that we had a doctor among us."

Claire glanced up at him with a small smile before her face fell again. "If it's been almost a month then why hasn't somebody come to get us, yet?"

Locke straightened up and left to join the rest of the group while Dean let out a deep sigh. Finding out that they were possibly infinitely lost the first time was hard enough, but at least he'd had all his faculties about the crash. How did they explain to a terrified girl that several of the survivors had already given up hope of ever being rescued?

* * *

Dean watched Sayid closely as his face remained passive during the entire time that Locke explained how Claire had been found. Every few moments, Jack would shake his head wistfully while Charlie clung to everything that came out of Locke's mouth.

He could tell by the slight expression on Sayid's face that he had compiled several questions and that he was also less than thrilled with the news. "What are you thinking?" Dean asked.

Sayid glanced over at Dean and awarded him with a weary look before he let out a deep sigh. "The girl is pregnant," he told them. "Very pregnant. Are we supposed to believe that she simply escaped from him?"

"I'm not sure I follow you," Jack muttered.

"Yeah, what are you getting at?" Charlie interjected.

"Ethan infiltrated us. Whoever he is and wherever he comes from, he's intelligent," Sayid explained to them very calmly. "Who's to say he didn't even send Claire?"

"You're off your head, mate! That…" Charlie exclaimed.

"Charlie, calm down," Jack ordered before he directed his gaze back at Sayid. "That's a stretch, Sayid."

Dean shook his head at Sayid's theories. He'd be lying if he said that the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but after witnessing, firsthand, how terrified Claire had been, he knew that she wasn't playing double agent for Ethan.

"If it's such a stretch, then tell me, doctor, how many times have you diagnosed actual amnesia and such a selective brand of it?" Sayid questioned.

"Okay, it's rare," Jack agreed. "But she's been through a major trauma. It is possible that her memory reset to the crash."

"Before the crash, actually," Dean interjected. "You should have seen her Sayid. She said that the last thing she remembered was the flight from Sydney."

"What are the chances of her memory returning?" Locke asked.

Jack let out a deep sigh before he shook his head around a frustrated shrug. "I don't know."

"You know what?" Charlie interrupted them. "You boys talk about Claire all you want. I'm actually going to go spend some time with her. I get the impression she might still be a tad upset." He gave them one last withering look before he turned and stomped towards the treeline.

"I hope you realize that this is all your fault," Dean pointed to Sayid.

"What is my fault?" Sayid asked.

"Charlie. You talk about his girlfriend jumping to the dark side and there's nothing else for him to do but get pissed off," Dean explained.

"What would you have me do instead?" Sayid asked in frustration.

"For one, you could voice those thoughts when an impartial party isn't around," Dean told him. "I find it hard to believe that out of everybody on this island, I'm wearing the King Tact crown."

"Dean, it's nobody's fault that Charlie reacted how he did," Jack told him. "It's worth thinking about, but Sayid aside, we all saw how terrified Claire was. I'm not sure anybody could act that well."

"You'd be surprised," Dean muttered. "Not that I think she's faking, but I'm just saying." He gave an impish grin to all of them before he nodded his head over to the airline chairs outside of his tent and took a seat in one of them.

"This whole situation, though," Sayid began as he took a seat next to Dean. "Why was she gone for so long and then came stumbling back with her memory reset? None of this makes any sense."

"Dude, you're preaching to the choir," Dean snorted. "I'm starting to think we've crash landed in the Twilight Zone and any moment Rod Serling is gonna stumble out of the bushes and sum up the last crazy ass month with some kind of witty anecdote."

"You might have to settle for Charlie instead of Rod Serling," Locke observed as he gestured flippantly to the treeline. They all turned and followed Locke's gaze as Charlie stumbled back out of the forest, his eyes wide as he scanned the beach.

"Now what's going on?" Dean muttered as Charlie finally honed in on their group and ran full speed towards them. "Dude, where's the fire?" Dean asked as Charlie stopped in front of them and doubled over to catch his breath.

"Ethan…he's here… in the jungle," Charlie wheezed out. "He attacked me and Jin."

All four of them stood from their chairs, wide eyed at Charlie's words as Dean finally noticed the bruised and tender skin highlighted on his neck. "Did he try to strangle you?"

"Try nothing. The sodding bastard had me pressed up against a tree," Charlie yelled at Dean as he rubbed at the abused skin on his neck absent-mindedly before pointing behind him. "He hit Jin with some kind of rock and knocked him out."

They all glanced behind Charlie and surveyed the area before they turned their attention back to him. "Is he ok? Did he wake up?"

Charlie opened his mouth to speak before he looked over his shoulder in the direction he had come from and then graced the group with a sheepish look. "I…um…kinda left him."

"You left him?" Dean asked incredulously. "With a psychopathic kidnapping stalker?"

"Ethan left by the time I regained my breath," Charlie corrected him. "I'm so sorry that I was too busy being terrified to remember to worry about Jin."

"I'll go get him," Sayid stepped forward. "His wife is still at the caves, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess you can try to let her know what happened," Jack told him with a shrug. "He may have a concussion, so keep him conscious until I get down there. I should be right behind you."

Sayid nodded at his instructions before he turned and walked up the path that Charlie had come from. "Ok, did Ethan happen to give you some sort of reason why he popped Jin over the head and then flattened your wind pipe?"

"Oh yeah, he mentioned it alright," Charlie snapped before he closed his eyes and let out a few deep and calming breaths. He opened them, his composure much stronger than a moment ago and shook his head. "He wants Claire back."

"Ok, well, I guess that pretty much answers if he sent her to us or if she escaped from him somehow," Dean spoke up.

"He said that if I didn't bring her back to him that he'd kill someone in our group every day until we handed her over," Charlie added. Dean could feel the heat building in his face as the weight of Charlie's words washed over him completely. He shook his head to try to clear out the rage that was growing inside of him as he mentally catalogued some of the worst hunts and monsters he'd ever encountered and what the outcome of each hunt had been. Anything to distract himself from what Charlie had just told them.

"You know, when we were trying to track him to find Charlie and Claire, he told me that if I didn't stop following him that he'd kill one of you," Jack recalled. "Hell, he almost did."

"Well, considering this new bit of information, I think it's not only stupid, but incredibly irresponsible to assume that he's just blowing smoke up our asses by making these threats about killing people in our party," Dean hissed.

"I agree," Jack said. "I'm just not sure what we're supposed do about it."

"What we're supposed to do about it?" Charlie laughed incredulously. "We go out and we bloody kill him first!"

"Calm down, Charlie," Locke spoke up. "We don't want the others to get upset and..."

"Forget the others. He's out there right now, Locke."

"I think he's right," Jack agreed. He allowed an ironic smile to grace his features as the attention of all three men settled on his statement before he continued. "The man threatens to kill one of us unless we bring him Claire, and what, we just wait for that to happen? We tracked him once before, we can track him again."

"That's easier said than done, Jack," Dean cautioned.

"Plus, you both seem to have forgotten how that turned out last time," Locke spoke up. He turned to Jack with a dismal expression. "He bested you physically." He waited until his reminder sunk in before he turned his attention to Charlie. "He hung you from a tree. Running into the jungle unarmed is not going to get the job done."

"So, what does get it done?" Charlie asked.

"We need to circle the wagons, tell a select few about the threat," Locke explained to them. "We post some sentries here and back at the caves.

"Tell a select few?" Jack snorted.

"Withholding information, even from a tiny margin of people, hasn't ever done anybody any good on this island," Dean agreed.

"Besides, if he does what he says he going to do, then that blood's on our hands," Jack informed Locke.

"Okay, fine, we tell everyone," Locke said. "But, you want to protect them, you both need to start thinking defense."

"No shit," Dean commented as he crossed his arms over his chest and wracked his head for any good strategy.

"For starters, we move everybody off the beach, back up into the caves," Jack suggested.

"Not only is that the very opposite of defense, but I'm not sure if it's you projecting your wishes for everyone to be in one central location or actually helping the situation," Dean told him.

"What do you mean?"

"What if Ethan isn't alone?" Locke chimed in. "What if he delivered his threat so that we would gather like sheep to the slaughter in a confined space where they can roll in and take us all in one fell swoop?"

"Exactly," Dean pointed out. "I'm not saying that Fred and Daphne should go left while Velma, Shaggy and Scooby stay right, but something in the middle is what we should be aiming for."

Jack looked from Dean to Locke candidly before he shrugged around a sigh. "Okay. Obviously, you two have a plan. So, let's hear it."

* * *

Dean and Jack sat close together on the rocks in the caves as they both sharpened the knives that Locke had loaned them. "Do you really think this is gonna work?" Jack asked.

"Making homemade trip wire alarms?" Dean returned sarcastically. "I'm sure Ethan won't know what hit him with that fancy technology."

"You're just filled to the brim with optimism, aren't you?" Jack asked.

"More like honesty," Dean returned. "It sucks that those two rarely go hand in hand."

"You both look hungry," Kate interrupted their discussion. They both turned to find her hanging back slightly before she threw a piece of fruit at the both of them.

"Thanks," Jack muttered as he cut into the fruit with his knife and tentatively began to consume it.

Dean stared down at the fruit with a grimace as he set it down beside him and went back to sharpening the knives. "Sorry I couldn't bring you a steak," Kate murmured as she took a seat next to them.

"Yeah, me too."

She rolled her eyes at his response before she turned her attention to Jack. "Locke told us what happened. Why do you think he wants her back?"

"Because he's a sick freak that probably wants to sacrifice her baby to some strange deity, but until it's born naturally he figures he'll use her for some sort of mind wiping experiment and track the results," Dean told her with a straight face.

"We're actually not sure," Jack clarified as he gave Dean a weary look.

"Have you thought that maybe it's time you use that key you've been wearing around your neck?" Kate asked as Jack let out an agitated breath. "There are three more nine millimeters in the Marshal's case and…"

"Uh-uh. No," Jack told her with a shake of his head.

Kate glanced over at Dean for help and couldn't help but scoff as he held up his hands in surrender. "Don't look at me on this one."

"Says the guy that took one of the guns and will probably be carrying it when all of this goes down," Kate muttered.

"I have it on me right now, actually," Dean corrected her. "But, unlike most of the people from our crash, I've been using a gun my entire life."

"He's right," Jack commented. "I hand them out, someone hears something out in the jungle and gets scared, the chances of us shooting each other are much higher than of us shooting him."

"I don't believe this," Kate muttered. "We're beyond sharpening knives here."

"I am not putting guns in untrained hands," Jack told her determinedly.

At Jack's words, Dean glanced up from sharpening his knife and rolled around his statement in his head. "What about trained hands, though?" he asked. He rolled his eyes as Kate and Jack both gave him twin inquisitive looks before he shrugged them off. "Nevermind."

"No, keep going," Kate requested.

Dean held Jack's gaze for a moment before he shrugged and set down his knife. "There have to be a few of us that are trained enough to handle a gun. I have mine and I know how to use it. I have to assume that Kate's probably up to snuff. Sawyer, Locke, Sayid…we have plenty of people that could responsibly take up arms."

"I said no," Jack reiterated. "I'm not about to set off some kind of war when only a few select people have guns and the others are left behind wanting one."

"I guess it's ultimately your call," Dean commented as he stood up from his spot and put the knife he had been sharpening back in its sheath. "I'm gonna head back to the beach and help get things prepared over there. Are you good?"

"I should be fine," Jack told him with a smile as Charlie came up behind them with a torch.

"Sayid set up markers that he wants us to light," Charlie explained as he motioned to the torch. "He's doing the same thing down at the beach."

"He also said something about trip wires. Did he tell you where they were?" Dean asked as Kate stood up next to him.

"Boone's supposed to be on the trail to walk you back to camp," Charlie told him. "He'll let you know where the landmines are."

* * *

Dean had had a feeling that all of the efforts they had put into protecting both camps would ultimately be in vain. For someone that had spent their entire life dealing with the nasties that most people thought were bedtime stories and childhood riddles, it still amazed him what actual human beings were capable of.

"I thought those guys had a full on perimeter set up," Hurley commented as they watched Boone, Sayid and Locke carry away the dead body that had been discovered a half hour prior.

"Locke said that it didn't matter," Kate grimly told him. "He came in from the water."

"We didn't even put that down as a possibility," Dean murmured. "That's the kind of thing you only ever see in a James Bond movie."

"You sure it wasn't an accident? I mean, maybe the guy just drowned or something," Hurley suggested.

"His neck was broken…both his arms…all the bones in his fingers," Kate told them.

"Yeah, okay," Hurley cut her off. "Got it."

"Ethan didn't just kill him," Dean seethed. "He made sure he suffered."

"So, he got Steve first?" Sawyer asked from behind them, the usual jovial bite missing from his tone.

"Dude, that was Scott," Hurley told him as he turned away and headed back to his tent.

"Is it true he came up from the water?" Sawyer asked in disbelief.

"Well, we haven't properly interrogated the sick bastard, but that's what Sayid seems to believe," Dean told him, his face pinched with anger. "I can't believe we didn't see this coming. We put up garbage bag alarms and had untrained people guarding paths."

"Hey, calm down," Kate told him as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "This wasn't your fault."

"I didn't say it was," Dean snapped as he pulled away from her embrace. "But this passive aggressive defense crap isn't working."

"What do you suggest we do instead?" Kate asked.

Dean glanced over at her with a serious expression on his face, nodding his head as he realized what would need to be done. "We have to go on the offense."

* * *

"We need to talk," Dean snapped as he walked past Jack. Jack barely had the time to stand and follow him before Dean left the caves, hardly slowing down to make sure that Jack was following him as he led them both a safe and healthy distance away from the other survivors.

"Dean, wait up," Jack requested from a few yards behind him.

"I'm really not in the mood to coddle anyone right now, Doc," Dean bit out over his shoulder. He walked a few more yards, his pace becoming more brisk before he stopped and turned on Jack quickly.

"We need to do something about this," Dean told him assuredly. "I'm coming to you first because we all follow you and, for the most part, you haven't done a bad job of keeping our group safe."

"Thanks," Jack nodded at Dean's compliment as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You know Scott was just the beginning," Dean informed him. "I respect that you're a doctor in the outside world and that comes with oaths about people and ethics, but real monsters exist and Ethan is one of them."

"This isn't brand new information," Jack told him.

"I know it's not," Dean confirmed. "I'm just not sure you can recognize that."

"And you can?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Oh I definitely can," Dean told him. "I was a kid when my mother was killed by a monster and my dad uprooted my brother and I to make sure nobody else experienced the pain he went through," Dean explained to him. He knew how tangibly Jack viewed the world and was content to leave out the exact details regarding his mother's death. Jack could assume all he wanted that a human scumbag had murdered her.

"What do you mean he uprooted you?" Jack asked dubiously.

"I mean that he took us on the road and taught me how to handle myself with a gun and protect the people that I care about," Dean told him. "My brother is on this island somewhere and he can take care of himself because of those same teachings, but most of the other people on this island are sitting ducks for Ethan's next bargaining spree."

"What am I supposed to do?" Jack asked.

"Quit waiting for Ethan to come to us and we go to him instead," Dean told him. "You've got three trackers on this island that led you to him the first time and a case full of guns that I'm hoping he doesn't know about."

"You want us to go to him?" Jack asked. "What if he's expecting that?"

"Where are the guns?" Dean asked as he turned and headed back to the caves, Jack following him the second he started moving.

"I hid them where I thought Sawyer would never be able to find them," Jack told him as they approached the caves and entered to find several shaken people hanging around while Boone and Locke prepared weapons.

"John, you got a moment?" Dean asked.

"You mean before sunset when the real worrying begins again?" Locke asked. "Not really."

"Doesn't matter," Dean told him. "Let's take a walk."

Boone stood up from his crouched position and shot a helpful look to Locke who only waved him off before he nodded at Dean and Jack and followed them out of the caves. "What's this all about?" he asked.

"What do you think happens after the sun sets tonight?" Jack asked.

"Oh, if we don't bring Claire to him?" Locke angrily snapped. "That's rhetorical, Jack. Same thing happens tonight as happened last night."

Jack processed Locke's answer for a moment before he nodded his head determinedly. "You think you can track him?"

"I already told you he could" Dean interrupted Locke. "With him, Kate and myself, we have an actual shot of finding him."

"I don't want Kate in on this," Jack shook his head.

"Wait, I'm sorry. Why are you asking me about tracking Ethan?" Locke interrupted them.

"John, we know where he attacked Jin and Charlie. It's possible there's a trail pointing to where he went, but if there is, Jack wants to make sure that we can pick it up." Dean explained to him.

"Maybe," Locke shrugged. "But I wouldn't."

Dean and Jack stopped walking as they turned and shot disbelieving looks at Locke. "Wouldn't?" Jack asked.

"Look, I'm not a cold man. I feel for the loss of one of our own, but nothing fundamental is changed. Wherever he is, wherever he comes from, we're on Ethan's turf. He has the advantage. To him we're nothing more than a bunch of scared idiots with sharp sticks," Locke explained to them.

"Maybe our problem's that we need more than just sharp sticks," Dean commented.

"What if I told you that we had a way to get the advantage back on our side?" Jack asked.

Locke stared at him for a long moment as he tried to determine how serious they both were before he shrugged reluctantly. "Then I would ask…what way might that be, Jack?"

Jack smiled wide as he pulled a beat up Halliburton case out from underneath some brush and unlocked it with the key hanging around his neck. He opened the case wide and turned it around so that the three handguns tucked inside stared up at all three of them. "Why, doctor, you've been holding out on us." Locke whispered in awe.

"He ain't the only one," Dean told him as he reached behind him and withdrew an identical gun from the waistband of his jeans.

Jack grabbed one of the guns in the case and stood back up to face Locke with a dubious expression. "I'm guessing you know how to handle one of these?" he asked as he held it out for Locke to take.

Locke took the gun from Jack and stared down at it for a moment before he expertly pulled the slide back, unloaded the clip to check it and then re-inserted it. He fixed a leveled stare on Jack before Dean let out an impressed whistle.

"You seem to amaze me a little more every day, Locke," Dean told him with a pat on the shoulder.

"Be that as it may, the guns will be a nice surprise, but we still don't have a plan," Locke told them.

"Actually, Sayid and I were kicking something around earlier this morning," Jack interjected as he walked them both back to the caves with the case.

"And…?"

"You aren't gonna like it," Jack warned Dean.

"I love when somebody starts a plan off with how much I'm not gonna like it. Usually, I'm the Maverick of most of the plans I'm involved with and every time I think that I have the Iceman figured out, they shock me," Dean commented. "What am I not going to like?"

"Sayid, should be back at the caves. He should probably be the one to explain everything," Jack told them simply.

"Pawning off the explanation on the military man," Dean murmured. "This really isn't gonna get my goat, is it?"

"Even if you don't like it, I have every faith that it'll work," Jack told him wearily as they re-entered the caves. Charlie and Sayid were going over the weapons laid out on the ground when all three of them approached. "Ready to share that plan of yours?"

Sayid glanced sideways at Charlie, caution flooding his features as Jack nodded him on. "It is not so much a plan as an idea," he muttered as he cast another worried glance at Charlie.

Dean followed his looks and glanced over at Charlie before he returned his attention back to Sayid, the light bulb above his head suddenly sparking so brightly that he was sure rescue planes would have noticed it. "Oh man, you were right. I don't like this idea."

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked in shock.

"What am I talking about? You two are clearly thinking that we should give Ethan what he wants," Dean informed them in a disgusted tone. "The answer is no."

"You what?" Charlie exclaimed. "Wait a damn second…"

"You two actually wanna turn Claire over to that murderous asshole?" Dean reiterated. "This little plan of yours is for shit."

"We're not turning any of our people over to anybody," Jack admonished Dean. "But, we were thinking about using her as bait."

"Are you insane?" Charlie yelled.

"It's the best chance we have, Charlie. To catch this guy before he hurts anyone else," Jack told him.

"No bloody way!"

The anger behind Dean's eyes began to fade as he looked between Sayid, Jack, Locke and himself and began to think that they might have a shot of bringing Ethan out of his hiding spots if they properly enticed him. He didn't have to like it at all, but it just might work. "Charlie, you and I both know that nobody would allow anything to happen to Claire," Dean told him with a resigned sigh. "Besides, we have three extra guns that he doesn't know about."

"I don't believe it…you're taking their side?" Charlie threw at Dean.

"If you want to capture Ethan, we have to ensnare him. And the only way do that is by giving him what he wants," Sayid interjected.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Charlie shook his head. "This guy, he will kill all of you. You can't protect her..."

"Charlie, I can talk for myself," Claire interrupted him

Charlie spun around, his face still set against the idea while his eyes softened. "Claire, they want to use you as bait."

She let out a deep sigh as she shook her head in confusion. "I don't remember Ethan. I don't remember what he did to me. But if I can help stop him from hurting anyone else, I have to do that."

Charlie stared at her for a moment longer and seemed to translate that she was dead serious before he turned back to the rest of the group. "I'm coming with you. You said there were three guns."

"You ever fire a weapon, Charlie?" Locke asked dubiously.

Charlie stared him down for a few moments before he put his head down in shame. "You guys figure out some kind of game plan for what we're about to get ourselves into," Dean commanded before he turned his attention back to Charlie. "You and I are gonna have ourselves a little gun lesson before we enter the monster's lair."

* * *

After giving Charlie the very basics of aiming and shooting a gun, Dean had regrouped in the caves with all the other weapons he'd been able to gather from the beach. He lined up the entire cache in order to take a proper inventory even though he knew that the guns would be the most effective tools in ensuring that this entire plan went down appropriately. Still, he could have carried several different guns and he still would have felt naked without his knives and he wanted the other people involved to be equally equipped.

"You know," Dean spoke up as he pushed away from the weapons. "I think Charlie makes a good point."

"About what?" Jack asked.

"The guns. It makes no sense not to utilize every gun that we have available," Dean told them.

Jack looked up over at Locke and Sayid with a furrowed brow before he gave Dean his full attention. "You, me, Locke and Charlie," he told him slowly. "That's a gun for each person."

"Not to mention that I will be out there to take point," Sayid chimed in with a wan smile. "Without a gun."

Dean glanced back and forth between the three of them before he let out a deep chuckle. "I guess it makes sense that you two wouldn't know. I'm probably the only person that's been hanging out with him at all."

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked.

"Sawyer," Dean told him. "He has a gun."

Jack's smile vanished at the news and Dean could have sworn he saw his eye twitch in irritation. "Where in the hell did he get a gun?" Jack growled.

Dean let out another chuckle as he turned around and proceeded to the cave exit before he turned back around. "Locke, can you and Sayid handle all of this until Jack and I get back?"

* * *

"Sawyer…come out. We need your help," Dean shouted as they approached his tent.

The flap of Sawyer's tent parted as Sawyer stepped out into the sun, a large smile on his face. "Help? Moi?"

"Stow the shit eating grin, Sawyer," Dean chuckled at him. "And the French."

"If you insist," Sawyer agreed with a nod. "Now, what's this about you desperately needing my help?"

"Nobody said anything about desperately," Dean corrected him. "You still have that gun?"

"That old thing? I pawned that years ago," Sawyer told him with a knowing look. "Of course I still have that gun, not that it matters."

"Why doesn't it matter?" Jack asked.

"Well, you see, it's like having a lamp with no light bulb, doc. I happen to be fresh outta ammo since that damn hike to get a signal on the transceiver," Sawyer informed him.

"We got ammo," Dean told him. "Don't worry about that."

"You do know how to handle a gun, right?" Jack cautiously asked.

"Well, I know at least one polar bear that seems to think so," Sawyer told him as he entered his tent and re-emerged with a gun that looked identical to the ones that Jack was in possession of. Jack stared down at the weapon as Dean gave a nod to Kate when she strolled up next to them.

"I also know of a Marshall that probably thought otherwise," Jack shot back as the smirk on Sawyer's face disappeared.

"I wanna come," Kate announced as she stared at the gun in Sawyer's hands.

"Sorry, we're out of guns," Jack told her as he shook his head. "No one goes out there unarmed." Dean nodded at Jack's assessment as they both turned to leave and finish up gathering the weapons they would need for this work.

"Except for Sayid," Kate argued at their retreating backs.

Dean and Jack both stopped and shot the other very different looks before Dean spun back around and raised his eyebrows at Kate. "I wish I could say that I had all day to argue the differences between unarmed Sayid and unarmed you. However, we need to get this show on the road. Sorry."

"You know, I could just follow you guys into the jungle," Kate remarked scathingly.

Dean chuckled as he shook his head incredulously and considered the merits of tying Kate up until they had Ethan detained. "First off, nobody's trying to exclude you, Kate. We only have five guns and they've already been divied up. That wasn't any kind of conspiracy on our parts…"

"Dean…" Kate began.

"Second, I'm trying to take a huge leap of faith where you're concerned, even when you make comments like the one you just made. However, Ethan kidnapped two of our people from right under our noses and then tried to kill one of them. He attacked Jack and threatened him and then he threatened Charlie and made good on his threat. If he finds you, in the jungle, unarmed, he's either gonna kill you or use you to get to Claire. I should hope that you have enough sense to stay out of harm's way and enough decency to not make us choose between you or Claire."

Kate's eyes widened as his words washed over her with the same intensity as a slap to the face. He knew he had been harsh, but he also couldn't risk her trying to follow them out and it leading to more trouble. Their plan was already lofty enough.

"Now, since we don't even know if our plan is gonna work, it'd be really awesome if you could stay at the beach and keep a watch for if Ethan does come back for seconds," Dean finished.

Kate visibly gulped as she nodded her head and turned to go back to her own tent. "You know, you didn't have to be…"

"Didn't have to be what?" Dean asked Jack. "Honest? The hand holding on this island is what got us into this mess in the first place. If a little brutal honesty manages to keep everyone else alive then I'm more than happy to be the one to deliver it."

Jack could hardly argue as Dean nodded over at the treeline just as Charlie and Claire emerged before Sayid and Locke who each had an overstuffed pack bundled up in their hands. "Let's go get the specifics of this plan squared away and get this over with before we get too much closer to sundown," Dean told Jack and Sawyer as he walked over to the group.

He removed the pack that Locke was carrying and laid it out next to the one Sayid had placed on the sand as they rolled out both and started to line up their weapons. "I thought you and Boone were making spears," Dean asked Locke as he noticed their absence.

"We were," Locke confirmed. "They've been handed out to several people on the beach just in case this plan doesn't work."

"Can't help but respect someone that covers all scenarios," Dean commented with a smile.

"This plan will work," Sayid told them with a resolved surety in his voice.

"If you could see the future, I doubt you'd be stuck on this island with the rest of us," Dean commented as Sayid shook his head in frustration and turned his attention to Claire. He crouched down and drew out a rough sketch of the area they'd be covering in the sand.

"How, exactly, is this gonna work?" Claire spoke up.

"You will be surrounded at five points," Sayid informed her as he looked up at her earnestly. "Everyone will be in visual contact with you. Make sure you stay in the area I've shown you."

Claire nodded down at him as Dean unloaded the gun clip he had, checked it and then pushed it back into place. "Remember," Sayid began, his gaze trained on Dean intensely. "Guns are a measure of the last resort. We want him alive."

"He doesn't need his kneecaps to stay alive," Dean told him stonily as he pulled the slide back and smiled wide when it clicked back into place.

Sayid shot him a practical look before he got up and nodded for the rest of them to follow behind him while Jack put a comforting arm around Claire. Dean inhaled deeply and glanced up at the sky as he noticed the familiar scent of rain in the air. Black clouds.

"We couldn't even have Mother Nature on our side for this crap?" Dean muttered as Sawyer followed his gaze and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe it won't start pouring until this son of a bitch is right on top of us and we have no other options but to shoot him due to lack of visibility," Sawyer reasoned with a smirk.

"You speak French and fluent Dean…impressive," Dean chuckled as they entered a large clearing and the sun faded behind the dark clouds.

"This'll make keeping watch a bit difficult," Jack expressed as they all glanced skyward when a few raindrops began to fall.

"Difficult, but not impossible," Sayid agreed. "I'll be watching the entire clearing from that tree," he pointed behind him and they all craned their necks the twenty to twenty five feet that Sayid had indicated. "From there, the four other positions I have indicated will be visible and we can communicate through signals."

"What, no tookie tookie noise?" Sawyer drawled.

"If you see something that looks questionable, indicate it to the person on your right and they shall convey it to their right and so on until we are all aware," Sayid explained to them, effectively ignoring Sawyer.

"You better get up there before it really starts coming down," Dean told Sayid as he wiped the few drops away from his face that had fallen. Sayid nodded at him and turned to study the tree in front of him before he began his ascent, his speed amazing even Dean.

Dean turned and watched as Jack and Locke took their places behind bushes while Claire stared over at him and Sawyer with wide terrified eyes. "Hey, it's gonna be ok," Dean told her as he placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "You're far from alone and we'll be here when that bastard shows up."

Claire nodded her head vigorously at his statement as the rain increased substantially and Sawyer tapped Dean's shoulder. "It's time, Hoss. Gotta get a good seat for the show."

Dean nodded his head as he gave one last reassuring look to Claire before he disappeared in the brush and crouched low enough so he could still see Claire. She stood in the clearing, her gaze snapping back and forth as the natural noises of the jungle seemed to increase her anxiety.

Dean straightened up and craned to see Sayid in the tree he had indicated as he nodded over at him and turned so he could just see Sawyer's back to his far right. He focused his attention back on the clearing and watched as Claire continued to grow more panicked before a snapping noise spun her around and her eyes went wide with fear. She let out a deep scream and took off away from the clearing with Ethan hot on her heels.

"Dean, she's running the wrong way," Sawyer shouted as they jumped up from their spots and took off in her direction. He couldn't even see any sign of Ethan or Claire as they turned a corner to find nothing but trees. "SON OF A BITCH! Where the hell did they go?"

Dean glanced down at the muddy earth to see several footprints indented in the ground. One set was way too small to belong to him or Sawyer…or Ethan. "That way!" He shouted as they moved forward until the footprints stopped.

"Any other bright ideas?" Sawyer mocked him.

Dean opened his mouth to retort when he heard it. A noise he had heard more times in his life than any other noise. "Do you hear that?" Sawyer craned his neck against the rain falling around them before his eyes widened in recognition.

"Sounds like someone's getting' an ass whooping," he commented as they both took off towards the noise. They rounded a final corner to see Jack holding his own in a fight with Ethan while Claire stood back and watched, terrified.

"Over here, Jack got him!" Dean yelled as he, Sawyer and Locke entered the clearing and readied their weapons while Jack landed a solid punch that knocked Ethan to his knees.

"Hold your fire, don't shoot," Locke shouted over the rain. "We want him alive."

Dean, Sawyer and Locke stood in a semi circle and pointed their weapons at the scene in front of them while Sayid hung back as Jack let loose a hard kick that sent Ethan careening onto his back. Jack swayed slightly as he walked forward and straddled Ethan. He let loose another punch after another onto Ethan before they all finally noticed Claire, cold and terrified as she continued to watch Jack.

"Claire!" Locke shouted as he ran towards her. Dean was more than content to allow Locke to comfort Claire as he continued to watch Jack and silently cheered him on. He was hardly above hoping that Jack really messed him up.

Jack let loose one final punch before he slowly got off of Ethan and stared down at him in contempt.

"Winner by a knockout," Sawyer commented. "Nice one, Doc. Now, maybe somebody can tell me just who or what this son of bitch is!" Ethan glanced up at Sawyer in anger and moved to stand as everybody pointed their guns at him. "Uh, uh, uh, jungle boy. Not even for one second."

"You might be a stealthy little murdering son of a bitch," Dean taunted. "But, I seriously doubt even you can dodge bullets." Dean smiled down at the look of pure hatred on Ethan's face before it twisted into a vicious smile.

"Claire was just a fly in the vasoline compared to Sammy and his…"

The familiar sound of gunshots rang through the clearing as they connected with Ethan's chest and sent him sprawling back into the mud. Dean stood frozen in place as Ethan's lifeless eyes stared up at him, his face slack and taunting him with the unfinished information from moments before. He turned his head slowly, his gaze connecting with Charlie as he held the smoking gun in his still raised hand, his face devoid of any emotion. He'd effectively guaranteed that Ethan wouldn't be a bother to Claire ever again, nor would Dean ever find out what this man knew about his brother.

**Author's Note: I know…I know. I'm a POS person when it comes to updating. Last chapter, I'm all… "this next chapter won't take so long…blah blah blah." It shouldn't have. I have been sick with a cold for the last three weeks. Yes, that's right. THREE WEEKS! So, I'm finally getting better…and then I get the stomach flu this week. That was worse than the cold. Anywho, I'm all better (a few minor pains aside) and I'm ready to get this story rolling again. I'm extremely excited with where this story is going to…as I hope ya'll are. I love you guys that are reviewing and adding me to your alerts and favorite lists. It really brightens up my day to get those alert emails. Enjoy!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LOST or Supernatural.**

Two whole days. 48 hours. That was how long their entire group had spent walking as far away from their previous and tainted camp site as possible. All because they had woken up to the news that Nathan had somehow managed to escape from Ana Lucia's Tiger Pit, which had directly confirmed the half acknowledged suspicions in Ana Lucia's head. Two days. It was also the exact amount of time that a marching band had taken up residence in Sam's head.

It wasn't that he couldn't sleep at all, even though his body was making it near impossible for him to even attempt the task. When the constant pain that had, so far, kept him awake did manage to subside long enough for him to nod off, his conscience would fill in the gap and he'd diligently spend that time keeping a close eye on Goodwin instead.

"Do you feel dizzy or anything?" Libby asked as she slowly moved her pointer finger back and forth in front of his eyes for him to follow. Sam did for a few moments before his head swam again and he quickly snapped them shut.

"It's not so much dizziness as it is motion sickness," he muttered as he shoved his palms into his closed eye sockets.

"Ok, well…that's kind of the same thing, Sam," Libby informed him grimly. "I'd say even more so since you aren't currently in motion."

Sam let out a derisive snort as he slowly shook his head at her statement. What was he supposed to say to her? How did he even begin to explain to her what was happening to him? That sometimes he had dreams or received glimpses of things that left his head in such a pandemonium that he usually retreated from the world for a little while? Well, retreated as much as Dean allowed for him to retreat before he called him out on his behavior.

"Look, I think it's probably just the heat," he conceded to Libby as she chewed on her bottom lip in consternation.

"Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea if you just take a dip in the water for a moment," she suggested as she motioned to the ocean behind him. "At least until you cool down a bit?" Sam glanced over his shoulder with a sneer as the steady waves of ocean water crashed onto the sand. It would almost be methodical if they didn't seem to be completely mocking the current state of his temperament.

"So, how're you feeling?" Ana Lucia asked as she stopped in front of them and glanced down at him. He could just barely make out the concern in her eyes while her face remained set in an expression of neutrality.

"He's been dizzy and I don't think he's getting much sleep," Libby confessed to her before Sam could even respond.

He glanced up at Libby in betrayal while she only shrugged sheepishly at him before he rolled his eyes and let out a deep breath of frustration. "Look, I realize that everybody in this group is under the impression that I'm a child, but I already told you guys that I'm fine," Sam argued as he stood up from the rock he had been sitting on and swayed slightly before he shook it off. "Maybe if we hadn't been walking so much lately..."

"…they probably would have taken another one of us," Ana Lucia told him with an impatient and knowing look.

"Regardless of what you think's going on…" Sam seethed as he expertly ignored the dull stars that had begun to flare up around his eyes. "We just spent two days walking away from our camp only to end up back at the ocean."

"We're on an island, Sam," Ana Lucia snorted. "No matter where we go we're eventually gonna be back at the ocean."

Sam had to concede that she was right. No matter where they went, they were still stuck on this island and if Ana Lucia had anything to say about it, they would continue to move and try to stay one step ahead of whatever was taking members of their group. He couldn't help but wonder just how big this island was and if his brother was also involved in the same never-ending game of cat and mouse that had pushed Ana Lucia over the edge.

* * *

Dean let out a deep and disappointed sigh as Ethan's lifeless eyes stared back up at him. It was unnerving to know that this empty meatsuit had carried so much valuable information just an hour before. Now? Dean was uncomfortable to admit how scared he was that they'd eventually find out everything that Ethan knew, but that it would also be too late for them to do anything constructive about it.

"Charlie told me that he shot Ethan because he thought that he deserved to die," Jack spoke up from behind him.

Dean scoffed at Jack's words as he shook his head derisively in amazement. "So, was Charlie appointed judge, jury and executioner during my time in the jungle or is it just something that you guys at the caves decided while the rest of us were on the beach?"

Jack joined Dean at his side and gave him a curious look before he let out a tired chuckle at his inquiry. "You know nothing like that happened."

"Really?" Dean glanced over at Jack and studied him for a moment before he turned and gave him his full attention. "You seem to be extremely calm about the fact that this even happened. Where's the guy whose morals wouldn't even allow him to euthanize a dying man even after he tried to strangle your girlfriend?"

Jack glanced down at the dead body on the ground before he let out deep sigh around a shrug. "I guess I just can't find it in me to shed any tears for that monster."

"So you're telling me that you agree with what Charlie did?"

"Are you telling me that you don't?" Jack answered him with another question.

Dean turned back to the body as his eyes fell on the dried blood on the front of Ethan's shirt, all stemming from the six holes in his body. "Actually, no, I don't agree with what he did," Dean told him. "Look, I wanted a piece of that asshole just as much as you and Charlie. He was responsible for so much chaos in an already chaotic situation, and it's amazing to know he won't be causing anymore of it. However, you should know better than anybody that just because you cut into someone and remove all the cancer, that doesn't mean that it won't come back."

Dean watched as the small trace of the tiny smile that Jack still had on his face vanished as Dean's words seemed to wash over him completely. "What more do you think could happen?"

Dean shrugged as he stuffed his hands into the pocket of his jeans. "At best, I'm being paranoid and nothing else is gonna happen. At worst, Ethan was the good guy compared to whoever was giving him his orders and we are in for a world of hurt."

"But, it could be the first one," Jack told him optimistically. Dean shook his head as he recognized the hope in his voice as the false hope that his father had been feeding him for decades. "There's no way to know for sure."

"There was," Dean argued as he nodded down at Ethan. "Charlie effectively killed any shot we had of finding out where Ethan came from, what his plans were and if there were any people ready to take his place if this became an outcome."

They both continued to stare down at Ethan as the silence in the forest surrounded them like a blanket. Dean knew that there were consequences or rewards to every action that anybody committed. Nobody knew which way the pendulum was going to swing after this. "Charlie thinks that Ethan wouldn't have told us anything," Jack broke the silence. "I kinda have to agree with him."

"Of course you do."

Jack immediately picked up the amusement in Dean's words and bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Dean smiled sardonically as he waved it off before he saw the expression on Jack's face and rolled his eyes. "It's just…you torture one guy for information and it doesn't have the desired effects so you automatically assume that it can't be done," Dean told him. "Do you even wanna know why it didn't work when you and Sayid prisoner of war-ed Sawyer for information?"

The blood seemed to drain from Jack's face immediately as he visibly gulped while he recalled the experience from a few weeks back. He nodded at Dean to continue, not trusting his voice to betray just how guilty he still felt about his part in that. "Because, you know that Sawyer isn't a bad guy. Sure, he's the number one contender for Mr. Douchebag, but he's a far cry from evil. Deep down, you knew you couldn't continue to torture somebody that didn't deserve it."

"And him?" Jack squeaked out as he pointed down at Ethan's body.

"He woulda given me the deed to this island if that's what I wanted," Dean told him. Jack could see the same hard steel that he heard in his voice as it shined through his eyes in determination.

"That bastard wanted Claire. He wants my brother. If you have any guess what a pregnant girl from Australia and a college kid from Kansas have in common, I'm all ears," Dean told him. "Until that time we can only keep an eye out for anything suspicious and help Charlie move past this."

"Help Charlie move past this?"

"Charlie's decision came with a price," Dean explained. "He took something into him that he won't be to get rid of for the rest of his life."

"You sound like you have some experience in that department," Jack commented.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Dean told him as he kept his attention on Ethan's body and continued to study it as if every untold secret that had been contained inside would come spilling out.

* * *

Sam was all too aware that Ana Lucia meant well in her paranoid pursuit to keep their group safe and together, but he was also extremely well versed that killing another human being was morally wrong and yet he was more than ready to throw that rule out the window.

Over the past day, the pain in Sam's head had only gotten worse and he was amazed that he had even found the strength to push past it. Especially now. Despite all of his best efforts to push it down, panic and worry for his own wellbeing was starting to invade his thoughts, even with the knowledge that he was operating on barely any sleep. He glanced up at Goodwin and couldn't hold back the malice that took over his features at the condescending smile that Goodwin shot back.

"What is that?" He heard Cindy inquire as their entire group stopped moving. _Thank god, _Sam thought as he simply collapsed against a tree and concentrated on keeping his breathing even and consistent. He glanced up as a shadow passed in front of him and blocked out the sun completely.

"Hey man," Sam cheerfully greeted as Eko stared down at him, his normally stoic façade replaced with a hint of concern. Sam stood back up straight and plastered on a fake grin as he motioned to the tree he had been leaning against. "I was just taking a break from…"

"Do you think it's theirs?" He heard Libby ask with a confused tremor in her voice.

"What's going on?" Sam asked Eko who only continued to glance down at him in trepidation. Sam shook his head around a tired laugh as he pushed past Eko, roughly, and joined the rest of the group at the front as they collectively stared at a panel of wood in the side of a rock wall.

"Is that a door?" Sam asked as he stepped towards it to get a better look. He spun around and shot an incredulous look to the rest of the group as they all remained a safe distance away from it. He threw his hands up in frustration as he gestured back to the object of their attention. "There is a damn door, in the middle of the jungle on the desert island that we're stuck on?"

"Nice of you to join the discussion," Goodwin commented.

"Discussion?" Sam sneered at him. "Looked more like curious fear from where I'm standing." Sam shook his head around an eye roll at the look of contempt Goodwin gave him before he spun around and marched the rest of the way towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Ana Lucia asked. Sam spun back around and fixed her with a look that screamed _"what do you think?" _before he walked the rest of the way to the door. They all watched with a collectively held breath as Sam grasped at the small handle and pulled at it with all of his strength. "Sam, you don't know what's…"

"It's a door, Ana Lucia," Sam threw over his shoulder in exasperation. "At this point, I'm willing to handle being kidnapped just so long as we can get some answers about this damn place." He grasped at the handle, again, and pulled harder but couldn't seem to make it budge. He jumped in surprise when a hand landed on his shoulder and spun around to see Eko right behind him with the rest of the group huddled closer in interest.

"The door's wedged or stuck or something," Sam told him as he nodded at the handle. "Think you can help me?" Eko nodded dutifully before he assessed the piece of wood and positioned his fingers in a crevice at the frame. At Sam's nod they both pulled away from the rock wall and were rewarded when a slight groan sounded before it moved an inch away from the frame.

"That's it, we're getting it," Sam hissed as they continued to pull on the door. Sam nearly collapsed when they finally got it open wide and everyone stared at the darkness that seeped out.

"It says quarantine," Libby pointed out the boldly painted lettering on the inside of the door. "Quarantine for what?"

"Whatever it was, it's probably long gone by now," Ana Lucia commented. "We're gonna need some light if any of us is going in there." She eyeballed a small tree growing to the side of the rock wall and walked over to it. After a moment of assessment, she took hold of a medium sized branch and snapped of a moderately sized piece of it. Sam expertly caught the first branch that she threw at him and proceeded to rip a piece of his overshirt off in order to wrap the top in. He glanced up as Goodwin, Eko and Ana Lucia did the same and held the cloth portion out as Eko withdrew a lighter and lit them all.

Once they had sufficient light, they entered the door single file with Sam bringing up the rear as he studied the space before them. What kind of people created a hidden room on a desert island? Were they still here? If not, how long had they been gone. "Few decades from the looks of this place," he answered himself.

"What was that?" Goodwin asked over his shoulder.

Sam ignored Goodwin's inquiry as they continued to move through a narrow passageway before they were deposited into a much larger room. Sam stayed close to the walls as he kept his torch in front of him in case anything creeped up. He gingerly moved the torch closer to the wall and squinted as his eyes caught something painted across it before he moved closer. "DHARMA," he whispered in inquisitive awe as he gingerly ran his fingertips over the logo.

"What is this place?" Cindy asked as her gaze traveled around the dimly lit room.

"It looks like some sort of storage facility," Goodwin commented.

As much as Sam really disliked the guy at the moment, Goodwin was right. "Maybe it was for whatever was under quarantine," Sam suggested.

"Or whatever caused the quarantine," Goodwin agreed with a nod as several lights suddenly came on and cast a glow brighter than their own torches.

"This place is wired for electricity?" Sam asked in shock. He glanced up at the lights and winced as another wave of stars danced in front of his eyes.

"Sam? You ok?" Libby asked as she appeared at his side.

"Yeah, I'm fine…I'm just…" Sam trailed off as he swayed to the right and stumbled to catch himself. Libby reacted immediately and called Ana Lucia over to help her shoulder most of his dead weight.

"You're not fine, come on. You need to sit down," Libby commanded as she led Sam away from the group to a small crate. She and Ana Lucia gently helped him sit before she kneeled down in front of him and held up three fingers. "Sam? How many?"

Sam glanced up at her and nearly emptied his stomach as he slammed his eyes shut. "There's two of you, Libby. I see two of you."

_You never take care of yourself, _his brother's voice chastised him. _You keep having these freako weird dreams and then you get all zombie crazy for several days afterwards. It's even worse without me there to nag you like an obsessive housewife from the fifties._

"How long has it been since you've slept?"

Sam jumped at the sudden intrusion to the voice in his head and glanced up at the worried expression on Libby's face.

"I told you not to worry about it, I'm fine," he hissed as he turned his attention back to the rest of the people in their group.

"I am worried," she told him with a shrug. "Look, I think you just need to rest for a moment or two. Maybe even close your eyes. We're all inside now and there's only one entrance, so we can keep a better lookout for in case anybody strange shows up. If anything happens we'll all see them if they're coming," Libby assured him. "I'm pretty sure we won't be leaving this place anytime soon so you might be able to get more than five minutes of sleep."

"No, I don't need to sleep, I just…"

"Damnit, Sam. I've tried being nice, but you are pushing that particular sentiment out of me," Libby snapped. "You either agree to rest and get some sleep right now, or so help me God, I will knock your weak ass out. Out of those two options, only one ends with you waking up without a massive hangover-feeling headache."

Sam stared up at Libby with wide eyes as he opened his mouth to answer and managed a surprised squeak before he cleared his throat. "Um, I guess I'll sit down for a little bit."

"Good choice," she told him with a smile. "Over there where nobody'll bother you will work just fine," she told him. Sam glanced over to the shadowed that she had indicated and headed over there for a few moments just to get Libby off his back.

_Man, if I knew that was all it took to get you to listen to reason, I'd have knocked your ass out flat years ago, _his brother's voice laughed in his head.

Sam shook it off as he sat down and leaned his head against the wall at his back. He knew Libby meant well, but in the end, she'd see that he knew his own body better than she did.

_She has a point, man. Few hours of sleep really won't do much harm," _he was chastised once again.

For the first time since the crash, Sam was more than extremely grateful that he and Dean were separated and that the only Dean around to lecture and annoy him was in his head. He'd just sit here for a few moments and once Libby seemed satisfied that he'd heeded her advice he would sneak up and…

* * *

_"Oh Sammy? Wake up, Sammy boy!"_

_Sam slowly opened his eyes and let out a deep groan before he conceded to the fact that he did feel a lot better now than he had before. Maybe a quick catnap was just what he had needed. He glanced up as a shadow passed across the lights in the room and cast him in complete darkness._

"_Eko?" Sam asked as he tried to make out the figure before him._

"_Guess again, Sammy," the figure laughed as it stepped forward and allowed the light to illuminate the yellow eyes full of mirthful scorn that stared down at him._

_Sam scrambled up quickly and reached for the knife he had stowed in his back pocket as the figure casually walked towards him, tsking at his actions._

"_None of that now, Sammy," the monster in front of him chuckled. "I'm not actually here to hurt you."_

"_You're not here to hurt me?" Sam snapped. "You killed my mother. You killed Jessica." _

"_I never said I had no intention of hurting them," the demon laughed. Sam's eyes narrowed as he lunged at the bastard in front of him. The demon let out a disappointing sigh as he nonchalantly held out his hand and stopped Sam in his tracks. _

_Sam growled as he fought against the invisible bonds that were keeping him in place before he glanced over at the rest of the people in his group as they continued to mill around the room. None of them stopped to acknowledge that Sam was in trouble or that a new person was present in the room with them. "Why can't they see us?"_

"_See, that's why I like you, Sammy. You're so smart…so observant. Dean wouldn't have even noticed any of that, he'd have just continued to fight against my hold on him no matter how pointless it was," the demon laughed. "To answer your question, I had to talk to you, but I couldn't do it with the risk of somebody disturbing us."_

"_Am I asleep?" Sam asked in shocked disbelief. "Is this is a dream?"_

"_Correct, sport," the demon cheered. "Too bad you didn't get a Daily Double with that one."_

"_What the hell do you want, you son of a bitch?" Sam hissed._

"_Sammy. Language," the demon chided him. "Here I am trying to be nice and civil, but you just don't wanna play nice. What am I gonna do with you?"_

"_Pin me to a ceiling, slash my stomach and burn me alive?" Sam suggested, his voice strong and steady as images of Jessica in the same position washed over him._

"_Not you my dear boy, I have bigger and brighter plans for my little star," it told him with a smile. "Well, had plans but you and that idiot brother of yours just had to get on the only plane meant to crash on the only place that I can't get off of."_

"_What are you talking about?" Sam muttered._

"_I'm stuck on this god-forsaken piece of rock," the monster roared. "Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem, I'm a demon and can just whisk myself away, but not here. No, I can't leave and I have plans in motion that need tending to and I hardly trust any of my children with them."_

"_Your children?" Sam snorted before the demon's words completely sank in. "Wait, you're stuck here too?" Sam asked, again, with an ironic laugh. "Well, Karma works her merry magic."_

"_Careful boy. You really don't wanna piss me off right now," the demon hissed._

"_I don't?" Sam asked sarcastically. "Oh, that's right…because you can kill me, right?" Sam stopped struggling against the demon's hold as his smile grew. "Why don't you go ahead."_

_The demon returned Sam's smile so wide that Sam regretted his words instantly. "Why would I kill you when I can off the people in your group instead?" Sam swallowed roughly at the demon's words as he glanced out at the people he had come to know in the last few weeks. "Who knows, maybe after I'm done with them, I'm sure Dean would be more than happy to entertain me for a little while…"_

* * *

Sam snapped awake quickly and pushed his body away from the wall behind him in a panic. He let out a deep groan as the painful stiffness that had decided to occupy his neck blossomed into his shoulders and down his spine. "Why is my body choosing now to turn on me?"

"Sam, you're awake!" Libby smiled wide as he stood up and began to stretch out his limbs. He let nodded over at her around a grunt as a series of popping noises sounded from his atrophied joints. "I'll bet you feel loads better, huh?"

"From a five minute nap where I sat upright the entire time?" Sam asked dubiously.

"Five minute nap? Sam, you've been out for about two hours," she corrected him with a smile.

Sam stood ramrod straight as her statement soaked into his mind completely. He glanced over at her with wide eyes and searched her features for the punch line to her statement, but found nothing. "I was asleep for two hours?"

"Give or take," she told him. "You just looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up."

"Where's Ana Lucia," he asked as he surveyed the room they were in for her or Goodwin. It amazed him that he had actively spent the majority of his life deliberately not following his father's orders and the one time that he listens to someone else, this happens. He'd picked a helluva time to go against his inner programming.

"She left," Libby told him with a shrug.

"She left? What the hell do you mean, she left?" Sam frantically asked her.

"Oh, not like that," Libby waved him off. "We found some kind of radio in this bunker, but when we turned it on there was nothing but static. She and Goodwin took it to higher ground to see if they could get a signal from it."

"She's out there with Goodwin? Alone?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Libby shrugged indifferently. "Actually they've been gone for a while so they should be heading back soon…"

Sam didn't even wait for her to finish the rest of her sentence before he rushed past her and ran full speed down the dark corridor to the door they had entered through just hours before. The sunlight nearly blinded him as he stumbled out and wildly glanced around for some kind of a trail before he stopped to compose himself. Yes, he knew that he was panicked, but he also knew that panic only made a situation worse.

It had taken Sam longer than he would like to admit to find the faint trail that Ana Lucia and Goodwin had left behind, but once he did he followed right beside it at a consistent sprint. Two hours. Anything could have happened in the two hours that he had been sleeping. What if Ana Lucia was already dead?

"No, she's not dead. Not yet," Sam reprimanded himself as he turned a sharp bend and searched for the trail again. "Why would I have that dream if I couldn't do anything to stop it?"

He wiped away at the sweat that begun to build on his face as he pushed himself to continue moving. Even though it felt like less, he was all too aware that two hours of sleep would be more than enough to get him from one day to the next. However, he wasn't sure if it was enough for him to maintain the consistently rapid speed that he was traveling…all uphill. Hell, Sam could hardly remember the last time he had even been this exhausted.

As he rounded a wide bend, he noticed that the incline of the ground seemed to even off while the trees became sparse around him. "I have to be close to the top," he commented around a tired sigh as he slowed his movements down to a brisk walk and studied the surrounding area for any indication that Goodwin or Ana Lucia had passed by recently.

As the sounds of two people speaking very quietly reached his ears, he slowed to a stop and glanced over his shoulder at the open valley to the right of the trail he was on. There they were. Both of them were stoically facing the other as they spoke without any regard to their surroundings. _Wait a minute…_

"That's exactly how they looked in my dream before…" Sam's eyes widened as Ana Lucia lunged for Goodwin so quickly that he had to convince himself that it even happened. Goodwin was faster than her as he knocked her away and stood up as tall as he could in a defensive pose.

Sam let out a low curse as he ran as fast as he could towards them, hoping with everything he had inside of him that he wouldn't be late in crossing the hundred or so yards between them. He was aware that Ana Lucia had a spear and was glad when she held it up in front of her. Goodwin scoffed at her effort and grabbed it from her with a laugh before he threw it behind him.

"All you had to do was leave me alone," Goodwin spat. Ana Lucia slowly backed away from him before she tripped on the vines underneath her feet and landed hard on her backside. She let out a painful groan and Sam hoped she was ok as he bent down and retrieved the spear that Goodwin had thrown. Ana Lucia's spear. He looked back up at them and could just make out the glint from the metal of Goodwin's knife as the sun reflected off of it.

No, there was no way in hell that Sam was going to allow this to happen, again. With his mother, he had been blissfully unaware of the evils in the world surrounding him, let alone her gruesome murder at the hands of a monster. With every hunter and friend of his father, during his childhood, that he had been forced to watch burn in a pyre because he was too young to know about or contribute to the war that his father had dragged their entire family into. With Jessica...the love of his life, he had simply ignored all of the warnings as he tried to keep the normalcy of his new life from slipping out of his fingers. Not anymore.

"Hey, Goodwin," Sam shouted. Goodwin spun around in surprise, the knife still clutched uselessly in his hand as Sam shoved the spear into his stomach with no hesitation. The look of shock on his face magnified as he dropped down to his knees and glanced down at the object shoved through his midsection before he looked back up at Sam in confused pain.

"Looks like Ben didn't fill you in on everything, huh?" Sam hissed. Goodwin shook his head blearily as he let out a wet and painful moan that coated his lips in blood. He collapsed back against the dirt and allowed another moan to escape from him before he stilled completely.

"Sam?"

Sam slowly spun around, the features on his face that had been fixed in an expression of anger immediately softening as he took in the site of Ana Lucia, huddled down on the ground and staring wide eyed at Goodwin. "Ana, are you ok?" Sam asked her as he moved closer to her and knelt down next to her.

Ana Lucia's terrified gaze remained on Goodwin as Sam reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder which caused her to jump and turn her attention to him. "Ana?"

"He tried to kill me," she murmured as she collapsed back and lost contact with Sam. She glanced over at him as he scooted closer to her and shook her head around an ironic laugh. "The son of a bitch killed Nathan and he tried to kill me."

Sam was shocked that Ana Lucia was more incredulous than completely emotional, but he couldn't help but also be extremely grateful. He had never been particularly great with emotions. He had to figure it was from an upbringing created by his father and nurtured by his brother, but he still felt for this woman. This woman that had seemed so paranoid in her pursuit to protect their group had almost succumbed to the man she thought that she could trust.

"He didn't kill you, though," Sam told her as he, again, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, because you got to him first," Ana Lucia told him before she scooted up and engulfed him in a gracious hug. Sam sat stunned for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug with a wan smile.

"How did you know?" She whispered to him as she pulled away from his embrace and looked him straight in the eye.

Sam could see the gratitude that shone through as well as the curiosity mixed with apprehension. He cleared his throat as he glanced over at Goodwin's dead body and shook his head in frustration. How the hell was he supposed to explain this one?

* * *

"Your man failed in his task," the man sneered as he turned his attention to the window in front of him. "Correction, actually, both of your men failed. It almost brings to question how exactly you managed to become the leader of this group of people?"

"While I admit that I underestimated the fuselage survivors, I will remind you that you failed to inform me that Sam Winchester would be keeping such a close eye on Goodwin…" Ben began to defend himself.

"That is completely irrelevant since I have no control over the gift that I bestowed upon him," the man roared. "Your problem, Ben, is that you think way too highly of yourself. Sam Winchester is not an idiot and you failed to give him the respect that he deserves. Had that happened, we'd have him right now."

"What am I supposed to do instead, Jacob?" Ben asked as he stared up into the yellow eyes of the man before him.

"You learn from your mistakes and ensure that you collect the appropriate Winchester and dispose of the other one."

**Author's Note: This chapter has been done for a week and half now. So, a week and a half ago, I asked my faithful reader (my sister) to do her normal bit and highlight areas she didn't so much like. She finished reading, scrunched up her face and went… "it was ok." Right then, I knew that the chapter was vanilla bland. So, I did another rewrite, added on the Dean part (which was originally not there) and now I feel very comfortable posting this chapter. Biggest addition? Ben and the YED are working together. Furthermore, Ben assumes that Jacob, a being he has been waiting for so long to encounter, is also the YED. Dun dun dun. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

"How is it that Ike and Tina Turner keep finding useless crap to argue about on a deserted island?" Dean asked sardonically as he gently placed the bamboo that he had collected over the last hour onto the sand next to Jack and Kate. They both glanced up at him silhouetted against the blinding sun as he graced them with an annoyed head nod.

"Ike and Tina Turner?" Kate asked dubiously.

"Oh yeah, sorry…" Dean murmured as he crouched down next to Kate and looked up at her in mock apathy. "You see, Tina Turner is a singer that used to be married to Ike Turner back in…"

"I know who they are, Dean," she cut him off dryly. "I'm just wondering who or what deserves the comparison.

Dean stood back up fully and glanced down at Kate in amazement before he turned to Jack and acknowledged the identical curious look on his face. "Seriously? You really have no idea what I'm talking about?"

Kate shrugged sheepishly around a weak smile at his question at the exact moment that the angry Korean words invaded their area. Dean glanced over his shoulder while Jack and Kate followed the voices to near the water where Sun and Jin were in the middle of another argument. Dean scoffed good-naturedly before he turned back around to Kate and Jack, and held out his hands Vanna White style at the scene before them.

"They're fighting again?" Kate asked incredulously. "You're right, they do seem to be doing this song and dance a lot more often." She let out an indifferent chuckle before she turned back to the fish she had been cleaning and continued to work.

"Well, you gotta give it to them. At least they're both classy enough to tone it down before an audience gets drawn in," Dean sighed judgmentally as he indicated the growing number of people on the beach that had stopped what they were previously doing and taken an interest in the situation that had quickly escalated.

What had happened to him? When had he become this catty? In the real world, if he had witnessed a couple in the middle of a silly argument, he would have blocked it out and kept his nose out of other people's business. Now he was pointing it out and gossiping like a thirteen year old schoolgirl. Either the lack of civilization had forced a psychotic break or he had truly become so dependent on the seemingly never ending supply of evil monsters to kill that the obvious shortage on this island had pushed him to extreme boredom. As of right now, he'd give anything for a sleazy motel room, warm beer and daytime talk shows.

"It does seem like they've become more vocal more frequently," Jack agreed nonchalantly as he set down the fish he had been in the middle of gutting. "You can't help but wonder if they're still this confrontational without the stress of being stranded on an island thrown into the mix."

Dean shook his head at the ridiculousness that not only was he willingly participating in this gossip session, but he had been the one that had started it. Obviously, he desperately needed to keep himself busier. "I clearly don't have enough to fill my day with if we start having thought sessions about the regular lives of everyone from our plane crash," Dean blandly informed them as he pulled a water bottle out of his backpack and took a long drink from it. He nodded over at Michael as he approached them and stopped next to Dean but kept his attention on Jin and Sun. "What's going on?"

"We don't know," Kate admitted distractedly. "He just walked up and started going off on her."

"Well, considering he's been trying to cover her up with that towel, it's probably because she's wearing a bikini," Dean muttered. He shrugged at his answer as Kate, Jack and Michael all fixed him with matching looks of amused intrigue. "What? I'm the only one that gets the feeling that the whole 'who wears short shorts' isn't exactly a staple in their country? It's a damn shame if you ask me."

"You're such a pig," Kate laughed.

"I have known a few ladies that like to call me Babe," Dean admitted as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Jack let out a deep chuckle as he finally noticed the pile of bamboo that Dean had set down next to him. "What are you doing with all that?"

"Helping out with the raft," Dean explained. "I figured it's probably smarter for me to be the Home Depot of this operation rather than handle too much of the actual construction."

"Not that I don't appreciate the thought, but I got all that handled just fine anyways," Michael commented as his gaze remained fixed on Sun and Jin.

Dean allowed a satisfied smile to spread across his face as he turned his attention back to the argument and sucked in a breath as Jin tried in vain to pull his wife away from the water and she fell face first onto the sand instead. "Oh no he didn't," Michael muttered as he pushed past Dean and stomped away from their group in a beeline towards Jin and Sun. They watched in anticipation as Jin bent down in an effort to correct his wife's position and Dean could immediately tell that her fall had been a complete accident.

"That guy really does thrive on turning a dramatic situation into a more dramatic situation," Dean groaned out as Michael planted himself between Jin and Sun and furiously stared Jin down.

"He's just concerned," Jack told him as they watched the argument move to Jin and Michael while their equal language barrier resulted in more angry movements than words. "Nobody wants to sit by and watch as a woman gets mistreated."

"Oh please, Jin didn't mistreat Sun," Kate cut in. "She just stumbled and fell. Dean's right, Michael's making this more dramatic than it should…" Her commentary died down as Sun pushed her way in between both of the men and slapped Michael hard across his cheek. They all watched in amazement as Sun stood tall and stared Michael down in contempt for a moment longer before she took her husband's hand and dragged him away towards the tree line.

"That gal's got some spunk," Dean murmured with a wince as he bent down and retrieved the bamboo. "Would you guys let Michael know that I'm at the raft waiting for him when he's ready?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Jack nodded over at him as Dean moved the bamboo around in his arms until the grip was perfect and turned to head back to the raft. He arched his trek in order to avoid Michael completely so that he could give him some time to collect himself before he took any residual anger out on him or what was supposed to be, so far, excellent construction of the raft.

"Hey Dean." Dean stumbled slightly at the intrusion to the near silence of the beach and caught the bamboo that had slacked from the bunch before it could fall from his hands. He glanced down around the bundle in his arms and smiled as Walt stared up at him in wonder. "Watcha doing?"

"I'm just bringing some bamboo to your dad to help with the raft," Dean told him as he resumed his trek. He looked down and chuckled as he realized that Walt was following him and had managed to match him stride for stride.

"That sounds kinda boring," Walt grimaced as they entered the clearing and got a look at the frame of the raft. "Wanna play backgammon with me, instead?"

"Actually, I'm probably not the best person to ask," Dean told him as he placed the pile of bamboo on the sand and began to arrange them by size. "I don't even know how to play backgammon."

"It's real easy," Walt reassured him as he took a seat in the sand right next to him. "I can teach you, like you taught me Texas Stick Em Up."

"Texas Hold Em," Dean corrected him with a laugh. "As much more fun as that sounds than this, I kinda already promised your dad that I'd help him with the raft first," Dean let him down as gently as he could while he motioned to the bamboo on the sand. "Maybe Hurley'll play a few rounds with you."

"He's not very good," Walt dismissed the idea. "He already owes me $83,000.00."

"$83,000.00, huh?" Dean whistled impressively. "Man, I would definitely recommend that you teach my brother how to properly hustle someone."

"Hustle?" Walt scrunched up his face.

"Yeah, hustle. It's when you decide to gamble for money and to help yourself out you lure players into a game that…" Dean glanced down at Walt's curious face and blanched before he shook his head. "On second thought, I'm pretty sure your dad wouldn't appreciate it if I taught you about hustling, let alone the finer points of it."

Walt shrugged once more before he stood up and brushed the sand off his pants and walked out of the clearing. "I've really gotta learn to limit what I say around impressionable youths," Dean murmured.

"What impressionable youths?" Michael asked as he entered the clearing on the opposite end.

"Walt," Dean admitted with a sheepish shrug. "I'm not sure what kind of rules you have for him, but the kid told me that he's been gambling on backgammon with Hurley and I mentioned something about hustling."

"Hustling, huh?" Michael laughed as he shook his head with a smile. "I actually hustled a bit in college. Mostly just billiards, but my friend James used to rob the out-of-towner vacationing kids at the poker tables," Michael told him.

"No kidding," Dean remarked with an impressed nod. "Too bad we don't have a table on the island. It'd be nice to play with someone that could actually hold their own."

"Yeah well, it has been several years since college so I'm pretty sure I'd be more than a bit rusty," Michael informed him.

"Nah, I doubt it. Playing pool's like riding a bike. I'd even give you a free game so you could get those pool table muscles remembering what they need to do," Dean chuckled before the mirthful smile on his face diminished. "By the way, how are you doing?" he asked timidly. Michael glanced over at him in curiosity as Dean motioned to his cheek.

"Oh that…I'll be fine. I'm embarrassed to say that it's not the first time I've been slapped, but it definitely taught me to keep my nose outta other people's business," Michael told him as he climbed up on the raft and began to catalogue things that still needed to be done. He glanced down at Dean as he arranged the last of the bamboo and let out a deep sigh. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask, where'd you even find that bamboo? It's a lot thicker than the stuff in the field."

Dean glanced down at the items in question sheepishly before he waved it away. "I may have had to go a bit more inland for this stuff, but you mentioned earlier that you needed thicker material for the um…uh…floor part?"

"The decking," Michael corrected him with a chuckle. "Look, I appreciate the effort, but don't go too far inland, ok? Last thing I want is for you to come back out with another arrow in your shoulder."

"Oh, no worries about that, it's not that far inland," Dean told him. "But speaking of, now that I'm looking at it, I don't think I grabbed enough to cover the whole thing. What do you think?"

Michael stood at the very edge of the raft and let his eyes drift over the shell before he glanced down at the bamboo at Dean's knees and shook his head. "I'm sorry, man. I don't think so."

Dean nodded as he glanced back down at what he had managed to gather and let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, like I said, that's what I thought. Well, I'm gonna head back out and get the last bit you'll need. Maybe you can work with just this until then?"

"Yeah, this'll be fine for now. I'll try to get a good chunk of it done before you come back," Michael waved him off.

"Alright then, I'll be back soon," Dean told him before he jumped up and jogged out of the clearing towards the jungle. This morning he had managed to gather ten thick stalks of bamboo using his machete to get them completely cut down. "So I should just get the same amount?"

Dean stopped his movements and shook his head. "No, I think I definitely got enough the last time to cover more than half of the raft," he argued with himself as he let a disbelieving scoff and shook his head. "Great, I'm not even sure how much more he's gonna need."

He turned around and jogged back towards the clearing and figured that if Michael didn't need as much as last time than he could spend the rest of the day helping him with the rest of the supplies. "That sure didn't take long," Michael chuckled out over his shoulder as Dean barely entered the clearing. Dean glanced around and wondered how Michael had even heard him come back when a soft voice spoke.

"Michael? I'm sorry."

Dean could vaguely recognize that voice, but for the life of him, he couldn't place it. "Who is that?" he whispered to himself as he stepped further into the clearing.

He watched as Michael slowly turned around and shot the person in front of him with a fixed look of malice. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologize. For slapping you," the voice spoke again. Dean's breath caught as he craned his neck and could barely suppress the gasp that escaped his mouth as his eyes widened in shock. Sun stared up at Michael in shame as she remained rooted in her spot.

"Look, don't worry about it," Michael brushed her off. "I stuck my nose where it didn't belong. It's all on me."

"You must understand that…" She began as she stepped towards him.

"Look, all I understand is that I've got to get this raft finished so I can get my boy out of here and take him home," Michael cut her off.

Dean had seen and heard enough. _What harm would it do to bring back more bamboo than might be needed? _He thought. He backed up slowly and headed away from the voices before he turned and shook his head in disbelief at what he'd just seen. Sun could speak and understand English.

* * *

"Well, not to brag or anything, but we are officially set on bamboo," Dean announced as he entered the raft clearing and dropped his last pile of materials onto the sand. He smiled genially as Walt walked right past him and returned his smile before he glanced up at his father.

"Dad…?"

Michael pulled his attention away from the sail he had begun to construct and smiled tightly at his son as Walt handed him a bundle of wire. Michael held it up for Dean to see, gracious pride sprawled across his face, before he went to work to unravel it.

"Apparently, we're also good to go on the twine and wire front," Dean remarked as he playfully punched Walt's shoulder with his elbow. "You're making me look bad, little man."

Walt rolled his eyes around a smile as he climbed aboard the raft and casually studied all of the work that had already been completed. Dean could see the beginnings of awe appear on Walt's face and suspected that he was impressed by the fact that his own father was capable of building something like this. "You are going to love New York, Walt. No city like it," Michael commented as he took a seat on the raft next to Walt and gave him a genuine smile.

"He's right," Dean agreed. "I've been there a few times for odd jobs and whatnot and every single time I've always managed to enjoy myself."

Michael nodded his head at Dean and allowed a wistfulness to shine from his eyes as the tension in his face that had seemed to be so permanent lately, dissipated. "You know, what I really want to show you in New York are the buildings, the architecture..."

"Buildings?" Walt interrupted incredulously. Dean laughed deeply at the pinched expression on Walt's face as Michael let out an amused chuckle and nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah, I used to say that, too. 'Til I saw the Flat Iron Building."

"What's that?"

"Oldest skyscraper in the city," Michael explained. "Built in 1902. And it's flat. That one building inspired me to start drawing and, you know, designing things."

"Why?"

"You've just got to see it, man," Michael told him. Dean watched as the wistfulness turned into a glimmer of hope as the smile on his face softened even more at the prospect of sharing something that he clearly loved with his son. "You want to see it, right?"

"I guess," Walt answered indifferently as he stared out across the beach. "Could I go throw the ball to Vincent?"

Michael stared down at his son for a moment as the glimmer of hope from a few moments ago faded along with his smile before he nodded his head. "Yeah, sure, of course."

Walt smiled wide as he jumped down from the raft. "Come on, Vincent," he commanded as he ran out of the clearing and back up the beach in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry, man. He'll come around," Dean told Michael as he continued to separate the bundled wire.

"I just get the feeling that I'm just screwing his whole life up. That he'd be better off with anybody else as a parent," Michael admitted.

"Nah, you're a great dad. You clearly care about him, you're just a little out of your element," Dean told him with a smile. "Next time, though, open up about a Mets game instead of architecture."

Michael chuckled at Dean's suggestion as he nodded his head in agreement. "What about you, man? Got any kids?"

Dean looked stricken for a moment before he chuckled and shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of, besides my Sasquatch of a little brother." He smiled at the confused look that Michael threw him before he shrugged his shoulders. "I raised Sam. My dad was too busy working when we were growing up, so I shouldered the burden. Not that I ever considered it a burden or anything."

"It's gotta be driving you completely crazy that you don't know where he is."

"It did," Dean admitted. "But, since going into the mystical jungle full of grinding noises and Robin Hood booby traps is out of the question and following the beaches around could end up being a waste of time, I figure the best way I'll be able to get a lock on Sammy'll be to help you get this raft finished."

"Wow, you're making a lot of progress," Jack commented from behind him as he entered the clearing and stopped when he was right next to the raft. He nodded over at Dean before he turned his attention back and surveyed the development with an appraising smile.

"Yeah…I'm trying," Michael told him as he used some of the wire Dean had handed him to secure a piece of the bamboo.

"It's pretty cool," Jack commented.

"Dean brought all this bamboo and I'm using it for the decking," Michael pointed out as he stepped away from the raft and pointed to a different section. "Got a piece of the fuselage for a cabin, some storage bins," he walked around to the other side and surveyed everything on the way before he stopped next to Jack. Jack nodded along each explanation, but Dean could see the tightness in Jack's expression as he listened to Michael. "Hey, what's up?"

Jack glanced over at Dean wearily before he let out a deep sigh and let both hands drop down to his sides in defeat. "Well, I thought I'd give you the heads-up."

"Yeah..." Michael urged him on.

"There's a lot of talk going on about who's going on this thing with you."

Michael shook his head as he hefted himself back onto the raft and busied himself with another task. "Hey man, it's not the Queen Mary. I've only got room for four people. There's one open spot."

Jack glanced over at Dean accusingly before he turned back to Michael. "Who took the other spot?"

"Dude, it wasn't me," Dean told him with a chuckle. "I'm not leaving this island until I either find my brother or he pulls up in a rescue boat for me."

"Well then, who…"

"What's the matter, Doc?" Sawyer asked as he stopped behind Jack and plastered a pitiful look on his face. "Feelin' left out?"

"You're taking Sawyer with you?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Yep, bought myself a ticket on this little tub. Let me tell you, the fare was steep," Sawyer added as he tossed a coil of cable to Michael. "I could've used that cable to hold up the whole east wing of my new beach house."

"You sold him a spot?" Jack asked, the disbelief in his voice magnifying with each passing moment.

"I needed the halyards for the mast," Michael explained. Dean could tell by the sudden somnolent look on Michael's face that he would have rather sold his soul for a few yards of cable than let someone like Sawyer travel with him and his son.

"Good thing I'm a saver, not a spender, huh, Doc?" Sawyer rubbed it in. Jack gave him a tight smile in return before he turned tail and stomped back up the beach.

"Can't say I'm surprised," Dean commented as Michael left the two of them alone to follow Jack back up the beach. "Only you would use your hoard to purchase a spot on here," he laughed.

"Jealous?" Sawyer drawled.

"Considering I refuse to leave this island until I find my brother, not in the slightest. Besides, if you think flying terrifies me, you should see how seasick I get," Dean informed him.

* * *

"I'm still amazed that you managed to finally put your hoarding to a beneficial use," Dean commented as he sat back against the tree near Sawyer's tent and watched while Sawyer threw different items into two separated suitcases. "You do realize that real men don't pack more than one suitcase, right?" Dean snorted.

"Very funny, smartass. If you must know, I'm separating everything based on what would be needed on the water," Sawyer commented distractedly as he put two tubes of sunscreen together. "I wanna make sure there's enough stuff to last a few weeks between four people."

Dean sat up and considered Sawyer's words before he nodded in approval. He acted gruff and actively tried to remain as anti-social as possible, but Dean knew better. Sawyer was one of the good guys.

"Whoa, hey," Dean yelled as someone ran by and kicked sand up into his face. He sputtered and wiped away at the few grains on his face as another person ran past him followed closely by another. "Hey, what's going on?" Dean asked as he stood up from his seat.

"The raft's on fire," Charlie exclaimed as he ran past them towards the clearing. Dean shared a dismal look with Sawyer before they both took off after Charlie. Dean could smell the familiar and comforting scent of burning wood in the air with each step they took and he groaned at the amount of smoke ignited on the starry night sky. There was no way in hell that this fire wasn't small.

He was right. They entered the clearing and Sawyer joined several other people nearby that had begun to scoop up the sand and toss it onto the fire, but he knew with one look that they were all too late. The structure was completely destroyed.

Dean felt someone stop right next to him and glanced over at Locke at the same moment that a strange look crossed his features. His gaze snapped over to Walt as he and his father ran into the clearing, the anguish on Michael's face a stark contrast to the shocked guilt that covered Walt's. "No, no, no…" Michael yelled as he raced forward and helped scoop up sand and joined the others in throwing it at the burning raft.

Despite their best efforts, the fire raged on and Michael finally stopped what he was doing before he spun around and fixed a murderous glare at Sun. "Where is he? Where the hell is he?"

Sun remained in her spot, a look of frightened confusion on her face as Michael marched closer to her. "Where is he?"

She jumped at the intensity and volume of his voice and began to speak in her native language in a rush as Dean recognized nothing but the fear coming from her mouth. "Where is he?" Michael yelled again, effectively cutting her off.

"Michael, that's enough," Dean interrupted. He glanced over at Sun as she gave him a docile glance before she set her gaze on the sand at her feet.

"Hey! Where…is…he?" Michael slowly spoke again.

"Ok, back off," Kate told him as she stood in front of Sun and pointed her finger at Michael in a threatening manner.

"No, her husband did this, and she knows," Michael yelled back at Kate. "You're trying to protect him now, is that it?" Michael tried to shove Kate aside as she stood her ground and pushed him back.

"She was with me," Kate reiterated as Walt watched the exchange with fear in his eyes. He ran back towards the burning raft and grabbed a scoop of sand which he threw at the fire in determination.

Michael spun around and pulled Walt away from the fire as Walt kicked to get back. "Walt, hey Walt. Get back. Get back," he yelled as he dragged him away.

"I was..." Walt began as the guilt and pain on his face intensified as he looked up at his father.

"No, no, it's done," Michael told him as he hugged his son close to him. Sun watched the exchange for a moment longer before she spun around and ran from the clearing as fast as she could.

"Sun, wait," Kate shouted after her as Michael let go of Walt and ran after her.

"I'm gonna break his damn neck!" Michael yelled as Kate and Dean stepped forward and held him in place. He stepped away from them as Jack came forward and held up his hand to stop him. "Take it easy, man. We don't know that Jin did this."

"Are you serious?" Sawyer snarled from his position where he had continued to throw sand onto the still raging fire.

"Sawyer, shut up!" Jack warned him as Michael prepared to dart past them again only to be met by several people ready to stop him.

"Jack, c'mon, we saw him on the beach this morning," Charlie recounted as he came forward wearily and agreed with Michael.

"That doesn't mean that he torched the raft," Jack argued back.

"Jack's right," Dean agreed. "Just because Jin was mad at Michael doesn't mean he would blow our only chance at getting rescued. Nobody is that vengeful."

"Yeah, well, if it wasn't Jin, then who did it?" Michael yelled back.

* * *

If Dean was being honest with himself, he had several reasons to suspect a number of different people on this island of setting the raft on fire and Jin didn't factor in at all. Sure, he and Michael barely got along, but he himself barely got along with Shannon and he had no immediate plans to set her tent on fire. In fact, once he broke it down on facts alone, a few of the people he could mark as 'suspects' made some sense, but none of them went along with his gut reaction. If there was one thing he had learned to rely on in the last 26 years of his life, his gut reaction was definitely high on the list.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you since last night," Dean announced as he approached Locke from behind.

Locke glanced back at him over his shoulder before he turned back to what he was working on and awarded Dean with an indifferent shrug. "Apparently, I'm quite popular today. In fact, Shannon just left me with a message for her brother."

"Nothing like a real life Princess treating you like a voicemail service," Dean mused as he walked around Locke's seated position and stopped right in front of him. He grimaced at the line of rats laid out on a rock that Locke had already gutted and skinned. "Yum…the other white meat."

"What can I do for you, Dean?" Locke asked around an impatient sigh.

Dean took a seat on a rock facing Locke and placed his bag on the ground before he looked him square in the eye. "I wanted to know what you knew about the raft fire?"

Locke glanced up at him in surprise before he tried to mask it with a lazy brush off. "Why would I know anything about that?"

"Because you're this island's equivalent to the Great and Powerful Oz," Dean told him with a knowing smile. "I'm sure you've already heard that Michael's on the warpath for Jin even though Jin didn't do it."

"How do you know that Jin didn't do it?" Locke asked.

Dean held out his hand for one of the last rats as he took out his sharpest knife and sliced it from its mouth to the tail and extricated all of the insides. "Once, when I was younger and my dad was off working another job, I took his car out for a little quality time with this girl from school," Dean explained. "Afterwards, we were heading down the same gnarly ass dirt road that we'd taken to get up this mountain, only this time I swerved to miss an animal and a thick branch took out a chunk of paint on the passenger side. When my dad got back and saw it he asked me to explain what had happened and I told him that it had happened while I was in the grocery store to get supplies. I even had my little brother back me up. Naturally, he didn't believe me, even when I gave him a detailed description of the two cars that had been parked next to me…"

"I'm sorry, Dean, but I'm not sure what this has to do with Michael's raft," Locke interrupted him.

"My dad's a smart guy, John. He has his faults and I grew up with the sense to just let him be when those faults came out, but he is one of the smartest people that I know. Very astute. That night, when I blatantly lied to his face, he could read the guilt on mine. He even gave me a chance to come clean, but I didn't take it. Rather than hand out any kind of formal punishment, he just quietly lost trust in me and it took me a few years to earn it back. When Walt saw how devastated Michael was about the raft, he almost set himself on fire trying to put out what he'd done."

"You think it was Walt?" Locke asked as he barely suppressed the impressed smirk on his face.

"I know it was," Dean corrected him. "And based on your reaction, I'd say that you had come to the same conclusion."

"I'm not sure what you want me to do with this information," Locke admitted to him as he held out his hand for the rat Dean had gutted.

Dean handed it back to him and stood up from his seat. "I just want you to keep an eye out for Jin. Nobody can find him, even his wife. I'm just hoping we don't get to Salem Witch Trials on this island with the way that some of these people are out for blood."

Locke set his rat down and nodded up at Dean with a smile as Dean turned and walked back out of the jungle towards the beach. "Hey, Dean," Jack called from behind him.

Dean spun around and rewarded Jack with a head nod as the doctor fell into step behind him. "Jin wasn't in the caves all night. A few people think he's hunkered down somewhere hiding which only seems to justify their suspicions."

"You don't think that, do you?" Dean asked as they exited the forest into the bright sunlight.

"No, I don't think that," Jack admitted as they both made their way to the water troughs. "To be honest, I'm at a loss as to who would even possess the desire to destroy what is, essentially, our only hope of getting off of this island at the moment. At one point, I even had myself convinced that it was a freak accident and someone probably had just dropped a torch while they were walking by."

"That's not a bad theory," Dean admitted. "I just think it takes a real jackass to let some other guy hang out to dry instead of confessing to stumbling in the dark."

"True," Jack agreed as they both stopped and Dean pulled out an empty water bottle to fill. He dipped it into the water and watched as the bottle filled before he glanced up at Jack and noticed a commotion behind him.

"Oh my god, what the hell did he do?" Dean muttered in shocked outrage as he dropped the water bottle in the trough completely.

"What are you talking…" Jack asked as he turned towards the direction Dean was facing and instantly felt his face drop. They both watched in horror as Sawyer led a bloodied and tied up Jin out of the jungle and threw him face first into the sand. "Oh god, we gotta stop them," Jack muttered before he took off in a dead run right behind Michael. "Michael! Take it easy!"

Michael barely spared Jack a glance as he continued to run towards Jin before Hurley blocked his path. "Hang on, man. You've got to slow down."

"Hey, man," Michael yelled past Hurley and Jack as Dean joined them and put himself between Michael and Jin. He knelt down as Jin glanced up at Michael in confusion and quickly catalogued the lacerations and dried blood on his face.

"Did you have to beat the shit outta him?" Dean reprimanded up at Sawyer.

"Play with fire, you're gonna get burned," Sawyer snapped back as Dean gently helped Jin to his feet.

"Just calm down, Michael. Calm down and take a breath," Jack commanded as Michael continued to try to get past him and Hurley.

"You burn my raft? Why'd you burn my raft, man?" Michael yelled at Dean's back. Dean rolled his eyes as he motioned to his face for Jin to see and held up the international 'ok' sign. Jin stared at him for a moment before he slowly nodded his head.

"Look at his hands, man. They're burned," Michael yelled over Jack's pleas.

Dean held up his own hands for Jin to see before he motioned back down at Jin's injured ones and watched as Jin's eyes followed his to the burns on his skin. Jin shook his head at Dean and Dean couldn't help but smile as he realized that they were communicating without speaking. Jin gave him a weak but grateful smile back as he nodded over at Michael and spoke in a very firm voice in his native language.

Michael's yelling increased in response to Jin's unrecognizable words as Dean turned around and noticed that Jin wasn't looking at Michael but past him at his wife as she stood and watched the exchange with trepidation. Michael followed Dean and Jin's attention and finally spotted Sun as his anger escalated. "What did he say?"

Jin spoke again, his voice more firm as he allowed a sneer to mar his features.

"You said something to me?" Michael shouted as he once again advanced towards Jin.

"Michael," Jack tried again as he blocked his path.

Jin opened his mouth and spoke the same sentence as before as Michael put more effort into his actions and tried his hardest to get around Jack. "Say it again!"

"Hey, no!" Dean shouted as he faced Jin and held up a finger to his lips as he shook his head. Jin narrowed his eyes at Dean as he looked past him at Michael and repeated his statement.

"Michael, Michael," Jack warned as he continued to block his path.

"No, no, no. Say it again, man," Michael threatened him as he pivoted around Jack and ran full speed at Jin. Dean barely had the time to react as Michael reared back and punched Jin hard enough to knock him back onto the sand.

"Whoa, hey," Dean roared as he moved towards Michael and felt himself be restrained. He looked over his shoulder at the calm façade on Sayid's face and struggled against his grasp while Jack moved forward and was held back by Sawyer.

"Hey," Jack yelled at Sawyer as he roughly pulled his arm out of his grasp.

"Easy, Doc," Sawyer warned him. "One fight at a time."

"He's right. This is between them," Sayid agreed.

"Screw that, Sayid. Let go of me right now," Dean hissed as he wrestled against his grip with everything he had. Sayid didn't even answer as Sawyer came over and helped to restrain him.

Jin stood back up from the sand and shook off his dizziness before he stood tall and faced Michael head on. He spoke again, the spite on his face as clear as day before Michael reared back and punched him even harder than before as he fell back onto the sand.

"No, stop this right now," Dean yelled as he bucked and kicked again at Sayid and Sawyer. "Jack, you can't let him do this," Dean screamed as he looked back and saw the fear and shock on Walt's face as he watched the contempt radiate off of his father. "God damnit, let me go!"

"Calm down, Superman!" Sawyer shouted as Michael laid Jin out with another punch.

"You can't let this happen," Dean shouted over at Kate as she stood rooted to her spot but allowed the uneasiness of the entire situation to show on her face. "This isn't Martial Law!" Kate fixed him with a helpless look as Dean suddenly stopped struggling and leaned forward slightly before he threw his head back against Sayid's nose with all the strength. He waited as Sayid stumbled behind him which loosened his grip and ran back to Sun after he was finally free. "You have to do something," he told her as he squatted down to her eye level. "He is your husband."

She glanced over at Jin as he stood up shakily and spoke to Michael again. Michael responded to what looked like Jin's taunts as he grabbed a handful of Jin's shirt with one hand and reared back with the other to punch him again. "Stop it!"

Dean smiled victoriously at her as he turned and watched Michael, Jin and the rest of the beach while they all transferred their attention directly to her. "Leave him alone," she pleaded with tears in her eyes.

Dean glanced back over at Sun and gave her an encouraging smile when he saw the indecision creep into her features before she pushed it away at the sight of her bruised and bloodied husband while he stared at her as if she now had two heads. "He didn't burn your raft."

Dean glanced back over at everyone as the shock and surprise remained on their faces. "You speak English?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"Didn't see that coming," Hurley muttered in agreement.

"Is that what has you all so shocked right now?" Dean asked in amazement. "Not the fact that you all were almost members of a lynch mob? This isn't even nearly as shocking as realizing that Bruce Willis was dead the entire time," he scoffed out at everyone.

"You understood us?" Jack asked as he ignored Dean's words and came towards her to stare her down. "All this time? Why didn't you say anything?"

Sun ignored Jack's inquiries as she stood tall and marched past him to direct her attention at Michael. "Your raft was already on fire when he arrived. He burned his hands trying to put it out."

"Then why did he run?"

Sun glanced past Michael at her husband and spoke to him in Korean, what Dean could only assume was her trying to translate Michael's question. Jin could only stare back in stunned silence after she finished.

"Exactly, that's what I thought," Michael exclaimed at his silence.

"Michael, he's in shock," Dean interjected. "I get the feeling that we weren't the only ones unaware that you spoke English, huh?"

"My husband is many things. But he is not a liar," Sun stood her ground.

"You're going to lecture us about lying, Betty? Your own husband didn't even know about you and the Rosetta Stone," Sawyer hissed. "How do we know that she's not covering for him?"

"Because she's isn't," Locke interrupted them as he walked towards the group of people that were still surrounding Jin. "Why would he burn the raft?" He walked past Jin before he stopped next to Dean and shot him a wan smile as he nodded encouragingly at Sun.

"You couldn't have come a bit sooner?"

"I was trying to find Jin," Locke explained to him simply. "Imagine my surprise that there's a better tracker than you and myself on this island."

"I'll tell you why he burned my raft," Michael interrupted their conversation. "He's been after me since day one…everybody knows it!"

"Okay, it's personal," Locke suggested. "But why take it out on our best chance of getting off the Island? Why would any one of us block an attempt to get home? We're so intent on pointing the finger at one another that we're ignoring the simple undeniable truth that the problem isn't here, it's there!" Locke pointed out into the jungle to emphasize his point. "They've attacked us, sabotaged us, abducted us, murdered us! Maybe it's time we stop blaming US and start worrying about them! We're not the only people on this island and we all know it."

"Oh geez," Dean muttered as Locke graced the entire group with a knowing look before he turned to leave. Dean gave Sun a small pat on the shoulder as he ran off after Locke and tapped him on the shoulder once he'd caught up to him. "Dude, you call that helping?"

"Well, it doesn't look like Jin's getting hit anymore," Locke observed.

"Yeah, but you just opened up a situation for these highly paranoid people to be even more paranoid about," Dean hissed. "I'm sorry, but this actually makes things worse."

"Wrong," Locke thundered. "This makes these people aware."

Dean backed away slowly from Locke as he finally regarded him with the touch of insanity that he could finally see as it shone through his features. "You know, all these years that I've thought that it was bizarre for people to not only avoid the truth, but to actively suppress it…I think finally understand."

"Understand what?" Locke asked.

"The truth doesn't keep you alive. It just makes things more complicated."

* * *

Dean walked slowly down the beach back towards his tent. He glanced over at Jin as he took a break from setting up his own tent on the beach, away from his wife, and gave him a friendly nod which Jin returned before he continued to work.

He stopped close to the ocean and glanced up at the setting sun for a moment as he let out a deep sigh. "I'm getting to the point where I can't handle much more of this," he admitted as he allowed himself a few more moments to stare up at the mixture of pinks and oranges as they intertwined above him before he tore his gaze away and continued the walk back to his tent.

"Damnit," Hurley snapped at the exact moment Dean walked past him. He stopped and watched as Hurley tapped impatiently at some kind of device in his hand before he let out an annoyed scoff.

"Trouble?" Dean asked around a chuckle as he stopped in front of him.

Hurley pulled off the headphones on his head and threw them in the sand with a grimace as he held up the device in his hand to reveal a small, silver portable CD player. "Stupid batteries just died. I may not be a huge fan of classic rock, but it's better than no music at all."

"Classic rock?" Dean asked as he held his hand out for the CD player. Hurley shrugged before he handed it over and watched as Dean opened the top and smiled down at the CD nestled inside.

"_calm down mix…for the guy that's too cool to be scared to fly on an airplane"_

**Author's Note: FINALLY! I'm done with this chapter. Let it be known that what you've just read is actually the second go around for this chapter. Yeah, I started this chapter with the previous episode to this one in mind, but I could not get that sucker to work. Actually, if I want to be completely honest, had it not been for the raft scenes in this episode, I probably would have skipped it as well. Whatever, what's done is done…and I hope everyone digs this chapter. I wanna give a special thank you to Unknown-Bliss, Endgame65, AreYouSirius-questionmark, LH (2x), redladybug12, HeyI'mTalkingToYou, DaughterofLuthien, E, NoFate2608 and elmoisemo6 for your kind words. I hope you like this chapter as much as the previous one. This story is nearing its completion so the sequel can be opened up. Spoiler alert…John Winchester will very soon make a cameo.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or LOST. Or any other pop culture reference that can be linked back to any other owner.**

The construction on the new raft was definitely progressing a lot smoother this time around than it had the first time, at least in Dean's opinion. Of course, there were now several more volunteers willing to help out than just Michael, himself and a few scattered people here and there. In fact, Dean was downright amazed that gut-wrenching disappointment provided such a huge amount of motivation to this certain group of crash survivors.

"Hold on a second, you want what now?" Hurley asked. Dean glanced up in Hurley's direction as Jin held a piece of rope taught for him to see. At Hurley's sheepishly confused look Jin's speech grew in speed while he gestured to the large bundle of bamboo that Hurley had been holding together.

"Yeah, your guess is as good as mine," Dean shot over to them with a shake of his head.

He chuckled lightly as the confusion on Hurley's face grew before they both watched Jin's outstretched hands closely as he cupped them out in front of him and demonstratively pushed them together. "You want to make snowballs?"

Dean's chuckling turned into full bouts of laughter as he doubled over at the lost look on Jin's face while Hurley barely managed a sheepish shrug. "He wants you to hold the bamboo tighter..." Michael informed them before he glanced up at Dean's surprised face. "…I think."

Dean shook his head in agreement before he jogged over to Hurley and Jin and helped Hurley pick the bundle of bamboo back up and hold it tighter with his help. "My guess is that these ain't gonna float if the bamboo is loose," Dean explained over his shoulder.

"Oh sure, I guess I missed the raft building day in woodshop," Hurley muttered as he held up the other end of the bamboo and waited for Jin to tie it off.

"Hey," Jack announced as he wandered into the new location Michael had chosen to build this raft in.

"What's up, doc?" Dean smiled wide.

Jack nodded over in his direction with an eye roll before he acknowledged Jin and Hurley with a small wave. "So, how's it coming?"

"It's coming," Michael informed him as he motioned to all of the work they had already managed to accomplish and turned back to Jack with a pleased smile.

Jack nodded in approval at Michael's assessment as he studied the materials they had already gathered and the different approach Michael seemed to favor with this raft as opposed to the previous one. "As long as nobody sabotages this one, as well, huh?"

"I've got people standing guard 24-7. Nobody gets near this with or without intent to burn," Michael's satisfied smile dimmed slightly as he huddled closer to Jack conspiratorially. "Hey, listen, I was thinking, chances of a passing ship spotting this raft out there are pretty slim. We could use something to send out a distress call to any ships that might be close, like an SOS."

Jack shook his head around a dubious scoff as he stared down at the sand regretfully. "Okay, well, look I'll ask Sayid, but even if he can make something like that he's not going to have anything to power it with." Dean shrugged in consideration to Jack's point as he held his finger over the cable so Jin could tie a tight knot over it.

"Wait, didn't Sayid say that crazy French chick has batteries?" Hurley cut into their conversation.

Dean slowly stood up and shared a surprised look with Michael and Jack before he smiled over at Hurley. "Dude, you totally just redeemed yourself for the snowball remark."

"Do you think Sayid would even know how to get back to where he found her?" Michael asked skeptically.

"Dude's a communication's officer with the Republican Guard," Dean informed them with a nod. "I'm pretty sure that guy could find his way out of a fun house with a blindfold on."

"Besides, it couldn't hurt to ask, right?"Jack wondered.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Sayid told them. He turned abruptly and walked back towards his tent as Dean slapped his hands down onto his thighs. "Well, apparently it could hurt to ask."

"I'm not asking you to go," Jack argued at Sayid's retreating back as he followed him step for step. "I'll do it."

"No, you won't," Sayid countered over his shoulder.

"Dude, we're just trying to…" Hurley began as he and Dean moved to follow behind Jack and Sayid.

"Do you really think that she would give up something she needs for survival to a total stranger?" Sayid questioned them as he entered his shelter and turned around to face them. He leaned over the table that he had set up in the middle of his tent and indicated the maps and papers scattered across it. "I had to take these without her knowledge."

"Look, it stands to reason that she'd be just as willing to get off of this island as we are and rescue will help that along," Dean told him from his place across the table.

"All I'm asking is for you to tell me how to find her," Jack told Sayid. "That's it."

"I was brought unconscious to her camp. When I escaped I was disoriented. I don't know how to find her," Sayid reasoned with them.

"Don't know, dude? Or don't want to?" Hurley asked, his tone bitter as he tilted his head at Sayid in contemplation. Sayid stared in disbelief at Hurley before he slowly walked around and past his table towards him.

"Whoa, hey now, none of that," Dean stopped him as he glanced back at Hurley in warning. "Nobody came here to ruffle any feathers, we just need something that she may have and you're our best bet to find her." He nodded back at Hurley again before he refaced Sayid. "Look, you've got her maps and her papers. Now you thought that they were pointing to something."

"Well, I was wrong," Sayid spat as he turned back into his shelter.

"Well, maybe they're pointing to her?" Jack questioned.

Sayid's face screwed up as he grabbed the papers strewn across his table and crumpled them into a pile and held them up for all three of them to see. "Look! I don't even know what these papers mean. For all I know they could be the ravings of her disturbed mind…song lyrics mixed with equations." He held a stack of papers out to Dean and Hurley before he pulled an individual one out and showed it to Jack. "If this map is pointing to her, then you should know she resides here, in this area," he pointed to a section of the map before he walked back over to his table and took a seat. "She gave it a name…Territoire Fonce. Shannon translated it. It means dark territory. Does that sound like a place you'd like to visit?"

Dean conceded his point as he looked down at the drawings and scribbled notes that Sayid had handed him. "If this is such a dark territory, she'd want to protect herself, right?"

Sayid glanced up at Dean from his seat and immediately focused his attention on Dean's healed shoulder. "You said you were shot from a booby trapped doll, correct?"

Dean nodded his head as he absent-mindedly rolled his shoulder back and forth. "That was Danielle," Sayid confirmed for him as he nodded over at Jack. "She caught me with a booby trap. I would not be surprised if she has the entire mapped territory rigged to protect herself."

"So, you won't help?" Jack asked in exasperation.

"I didn't say that," Sayid told him. "I'll build a distress beacon, but I suggest you find another power source. There must be something in the cockpit."

Dean glanced over at Hurley as his face drained of blood and he held up a scrap piece of paper from the pile Sayid had handed him. "We're not going in the cockpit," Jack argued vehemently, forcing Dean's attention back to him.

"Wait a second, why not? Dean asked as he narrowed his eyes at Jack.

"What do you mean, why not?"

"I mean exactly what I asked," Dean explained to him. "You didn't tell Sayid that since you had already been to the cockpit and explored it that there was nothing in there that he could use. You just said we weren't going to the cockpit. What's in there that's got you so spooked?" Jack kept his gaze trained on Dean for a moment longer before he shook his head and walked away. "You know, the amount of information on this island that some people don't want to share is staggering."

"You really think something freaky went down at the cockpit and they're keeping it from us?" Hurley asked uncertainly.

Dean motioned over to Jack and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "The only time people act that cagey is when they have secrets that they don't want spilled."

* * *

Dean's mind remained occupied on his questions surrounding the cockpit all night until the early morning sun peaked in through the slat in his canopy opening. He let out a deep groan as he slowly sat up and narrowed his eyes at the light as if it had personally betrayed him. "Another sleepless night to add to the list," he muttered as he stood up and walked out of his tent to stretch his muscles.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Sawyer asked as he stopped his trek and squinted at Dean's disheveled appearance before he let out a few condescending tsking noise. Dean almost snapped at the amused look on his friend's face before he registered the hidden concern in his eyes. "You sure do look like hell."

"Whatever you say, man. I can recognize jealousy when I hear it," Dean responded as his back let out a deep cracking noise. "I tell you what, sleeping on the ground is really starting to make me prefer the cheap motels I grew up in."

"I'd take a bed of nails if I could just get some air conditioning," Sawyer commiserated. "I never could sleep that well in the heat."

Dean nodded in agreement before he stood back up straight and glanced casually over at Sawyer. He tilted his head as he regarded him with a penetrating gaze before his mind finally clicked together a connection. "Hey, you went on that one hike up into the mountains, right?"

Sawyer tilted his head as he appeared to think about it before he nodded slowly. "Sure did. That was my first and last group outing," he told him. "Why?"

"You didn't go to the cockpit?"

"Nah, on our hike we were trying to get to higher grounds so that Abdul could get a signal on that transceiver thing. Actually, it was the hike to the cockpit where they found that damn transceiver," Sawyer explained to him.

"Do you know who all went to the cockpit?"

"I think it was Ringo Starr, the doc and Kate," Sawyer told him with a shrug. "But, I could be wrong, like I said, I wasn't on that particular outing."

Dean nodded his head as he digested all of the information and then focused his attention out on the beach and scanned the tents and people until he saw Kate. She sat on the sand, her back facing the two of them as she dug through a suitcase full of clothing. What was it about everybody on this island waking up with the sun? "Hey, thanks, man."

Sawyer gave him one last nod as Dean brushed past him and jogged over to Kate. She didn't even glance up at him as his shadow cast down over her and the bag of clothes. "Hey, I was wondering about something that maybe you can help me with," he muttered before he took a seat in the sand next to her.

Kate smiled sardonically as she glanced over at him from her clothing inventory and gave him a small head nod. "Good morning to you too, Dean."

"We'll see about that," he replied.

"What can I help you with?" she smiled over at him.

"That hike to the cockpit after the crash, you went with Jack on that one, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, me and Charlie. Why?"

Dean let out a deep breath before he squared his gaze on hers. "What happened out there? Why is Jack so unwilling to go back there?"

Kate sucked in a deep breath as her smile fell and she shook her head in denial. "No, you should really talk to Jack about that…"

"Screw that, I'm talking to you," Dean told her.

"Well, I really think you should talk to Jack about…"

"He won't talk to me, Kate," Dean interrupted her. "What the hell are you guys hiding from the rest of us?"

Kate stood up from her seat and brushed the sand off of her jeans before she turned and shook her head at him. "I'm sorry, Dean. I can't…I just…" she trailed off as she turned and walked up the beach away from him.

Dean watched her go and settled back to allow the defeat of his situation to completely wash over him. Something had happened in that cockpit that had scared the hell out of not only her, but Jack. For all he knew Charlie was just as freaked out as they were. Wait a minute…

"Charlie."

He jumped up from the sand and grabbed his always prepared backpack as he ran past his tent. From the moment his father had taught him, Dean had always been good at whatever con was necessary to ensure the survival of himself and his family for as long as was needed. He had even taught the finer bullet points to Sam and was confident that his little brother had used them even while he had strayed from the hunter lifestyle during his time at Stanford.

_One day, when you're forced to con somebody for anything you might need to get from one hunt to the next, you need to follow two simple rules. First, if you're forced into a con, keep the details to a minimum. Nobody's gonna need to know which office of the FBI you work from or what forced you to become an agent in the first place," _his father's voice rang in his head.

"…_and two?" _Dean could recall himself asking.

"_Two, if you're forced to base a con off of a lie, memorize every detail of that lie and make sure you can spit it out at a moment's notice."_

* * *

Dean entered the caves and slowed to a stop in time to catch the friendly nod that Charlie threw his way before he pulled his guitar away from his bedroll and began to strum out a few notes. "Taking requests?" Dean asked as he stopped in front of him.

Charlie glanced up at him and smiled before he shook his head. "I get the feeling you aren't exactly a fan of Oasis or Driveshaft for that matter," Charlie informed him with artificial disinterest.

Dean let out a chuckle as he nodded his head in agreement. "My only answer is who and who?" Charlie looked affronted for a moment before Dean waved him off and took a seat right next to him. "Nah, I was wondering if you had heard about the raft?"

"What about the raft?" Charlie asked cautiously. "Don't tell me this one was destroyed as well."

"No, nothing like that," Dean reassured him quickly. "Michael just wants to create some kind of beacon, but in order for it to work, we'd need a battery to operate it. Since Sayid is so against going to find Rousseau, he suggested we go back to the cockpit."

Charlie's eyes widened as he set down his guitar and shook his head vehemently. "No, we can't go back to the cockpit. Very bad idea to…"

"Hey, man. Relax. Jack said the same thing," Dean told him with a reassuring smile. "Trust me, after Jack told me what happened over there, I don't blame you guys for not wanting to go back. Even I have to admit, that's rough."

"I think the proper term would be bloody terrifying," Charlie agreed as he allowed his shock to wear off. "It took me a bloody week to stop having nightmares."

"Wait, nightmares?" Dean snorted in mock sincerity. "Ok, maybe I was over-hyping the situation. Not even Jack made the whole incident sound that bad."

"Yeah, well, he probably didn't want to panic one of the few resourceful people of our survival party," Charlie scoffed in outrage. "You weren't there, mate. You didn't get to witness, firsthand, the pilot get killed by a giant cloud of black smoke."

Dean's face fell as Charlie's words echoed back and forth across the walls of his mind. "Did you just say black smoke?"

"Of course I did," Charlie defended himself. "Didn't Jack tell you…" he trailed off as realization dawned on his features before he stared over at Dean in shock. "Jack didn't tell you anything, did he?"

"He didn't," Dean confirmed distractedly as he knelt down and set his backpack in front of him to rummage around in the contents. "You're sure it was black smoke that you saw?" Dean asked again as he glanced back up at Charlie.

Charlie seemed to hesitate for a moment before he closed his eyes and blew out a massive sigh. "Yes, alright? It was a massive billowing cloud of smoke that pulled the pilot right out of the cockpit," Charlie confirmed.

Dean nodded again as he pulled open his father's journal and turned to the page he had bookmarked right after the incident on that first plane to Australia.

_Demons are identified as clouds of black smoke that possess a human host to carry out their bidding. They can cause harm in their natural form, but nothing as sinister as when they are corporeal. _

Dean glanced back over at Charlie with a worried expression as he shook his head back and forth. "No, there's no way a cloud of smoke just picked up some guy."

"He wasn't just some guy, he was the pilot," Charlie corrected him. "And, it didn't just pick him up. It picked him up, pulled him from the cockpit and then ripped him to shreds. We found his body strung up on some branches a few moments after we fled the scene."

_Could a demon kill somebody while they were in their natural form? _Dean wondered as Jack entered the cave and headed straight to the constant stream of water to fill some bottles.

"Excuse me, man," Dean muttered as he stood up and marched across the cave towards Jack.

Jack noticed Dean as he advanced towards him and set down his backpack and fiddled with the bottle in his hand at the murderous look Dean had on his face during his approach. "Dean, hey…"

"Just what the hell is your problem?" Dean hissed out. "You think a little thing like the pilot being killed by a column of black smoke is something that doesn't need to be shared with the rest of the class?"

"Wait a second, how do you…" Jack trailed off as Charlie came up behind Dean and sheepishly kept his eyes to the ground. "Look, I had a very good reason to keep that information private."

"I don't even want to know what your reasons are," Dean spat. "Did you take the time to realize that the monstrous noises that keep coming from the jungle could be related to this? You let me walk into that same jungle knowing that something is out there that kills people!"

Jack's face paled as Dean's words washed over him. He hadn't just let Dean go into that jungle, but Sayid as well. Both of them could have been killed and nobody from their camp would have been aware of it until somebody stumbled on a body.

"Where is it?" Sayid shouted as he stormed into the caves.

Jack let out a deep groan as he turned from Dean and addressed Sayid head on. "What are you talking about?"

"The map. I told you, it won't help you find her," Sayid recalled, his face a mask of rage.

"Whoa, slow down. I don't have the map," Jack told him as Dean let out a snort.

"For once I can say that I agree with Jack on this one, Sayid. There's no way in hell he's going into that jungle when he knows damn well what's out there," Dean spat.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Sayid told Dean before he turned back to Jack. "But, what I think makes this worse is that you don't even do your own dirty work. You get Hurley to do it for you."

"Wait a minute…Hurley?"

"Yeah, what's Hurley got to do with any of what this is?" Charlie asked.

"He was in my tent last night, quizzing me about Rousseau, about numbers she wrote…how I came to find her," Sayid trailed off as Jack shook his head incredulously. "You don't know anything about this, do you?"

"Charlie, you've been here for a few hours. Have you seen Hurley?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, a couple of hours ago," Charlie told them. "He was setting out for a walk. Acting like a loon, I might say."

Dean and Jack shared a dour look with Sayid as Sayid let out a frustrated sigh. "My god, he's going after her."

* * *

There it was. Just like Sayid had told them. On the deserted island that they had randomly crashed onto, with no signs of civilization save for a ragged doll strapped to a triggered arrow, there was an electrical cord. A large electrical cord. A large electrical cord that mysteriously extended from the ocean and ran into the jungle. "I'll be honest, I thought you were pulling our legs about this cord," Dean muttered sardonically. "What do you think it goes to? Or comes from?"

"I'm not sure, but I think Rousseau siphons power from it," Sayid informed them as he picked up the cable from the sand. "There are footprints here that do not belong to us."

"Hurley," Charlie muttered. Sayid nodded as they all fell in line behind them and followed his lead into the jungle. Dean was loathe to admit it, but he was more skittish than usual as he kept a careful eye on his surroundings and hoped that nothing would jump out at them or pull them to their deaths.

"You ok there, mate?" Charlie asked.

"I'm just hoping I get out of this venture alive without an arrow pierced into any part of me," Dean murmured back.

"Valid hope, if you ask me," Charlie told him before he wrinkled his nose. "Does anybody else smell that?"

"Yeah, what is that?" Jack asked ahead of them.

"It smells like rotting meat," Dean added in as he waved his hand in front of his nose to clear the tainted air.

"Don't move!" Sayid shouted as he rounded a corner. Dean, Charlie and Jack ran around the corner and watched as Hurley glanced back at them over his shoulder.

"Hey, what are you guys..." he began.

"I said do not move," Sayid shouted as he held all three of his companions back and pointed to the device under Hurley's foot. "You're standing on a pressure trigger. If you take your weight off it, it will release…that." He pointed past Hurley as they all followed his finger to a bundle of sharply pointed sticks.

"Oh, man," Hurley muttered.

"We need to find something to replace his weight with the trigger," Sayid told them as their faces fell.

"Replace his weight? How are we going to do that?" Charlie asked.

"Hey!"

"Don't move!" Sayid reiterated as Jack turned around and frantically searched the area for something they could use.

"Can I drop the wire?" Hurley timidly asked.

"Maybe if I find a rock or something?" Charlie suggested, completely ignoring Hurley.

"A big one," Sayid told him.

"Hurley, do not add any kind of weight onto that trigger," Dean warned around the arguing.

"No, I'm dropping the wire," Hurley disregarded Dean's warning.

"Hurley, no!" Jack yelled as Hurley dropped the wire and they all let out a deep gasp. They all, collectively, sagged in relief as nothing happened and Hurley glanced down at the device with a smile.

"That was way too close," Dean muttered.

"I can make it," Hurley stated as he looked up at the bundle of sticks.

"What? Are you crazy?" Dean shouted. "You already gambled once on dropping that wire, don't do it again."

"He's right, Hurley. Don't move!" Jack shouted.

"I can get out of the way, I'm spry," Hurley told them, confidence dripping from his voice.

"Hurley, stay put," Jack told him again as Charlie shouted behind him. Hurley glanced back up at the sticks and crouched slightly as he glanced down at the ground and the sticks.

"Oi! No, wait!" Charlie shouted.

"Damnit Hurley, stay put," Dean shouted behind Jack's shouting. Hurley took that moment and dove away from the trigger as the sticks swung past him and barely missed their target.

Dean glanced open mouthed at the sticks before he walked over to Hurley and offered him a hand. "My god, Hurley, you have got to be the most idiotically fearless person that I know," Dean commented on a laugh as Hurley glanced back up at the swinging bundle of sticks before he took Dean's hand and allowed the held to get him back on his feet. Dean glanced back at his comrades and noticed immediately that he was the only one that had found any humor in the situation.

"Hurley, what the bloody hell's wrong with you?" Charlie shouted.

"Nothing," Hurley answered simply.

"What are you doing out here, man?"

"I came to get a battery," Hurley told them, his expression and tone translating the truth of his statement.

Dean and Jack shared a confused look before Jack faced him again. "Hurley, seriously, what's going on?"

"Nada," Hurley told him, his face screwing up at Jack's questions before he squared his shoulders. "You guys coming?"

Jack and Charlie glanced over at Sayid as Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, we are already out here and we have the master booby trap disarmer with us…"

"You all want to go? Fine. But perhaps I should take the lead," Sayid suggested as he reached down and grabbed the cable again while everybody cleared out of the way to follow him.

* * *

"It stops here," Sayid informed them as he knelt down and pushed aside some foliage. "It goes into the ground. This poses somewhat of a problem."

"So the mysterious electrical cord that you guys found just ends underground?" Dean questioned. "Is anybody else thinking this doesn't make a damn bit of sense?"

"Guys? You should come see this," Charlie interrupted them from up ahead. Sayid stood back up and shared a look with Jack and Dean before Dean shrugged and motioned for him to lead the way. They each walked further up the path to a clearing and stared out in the direction that Charlie had indicated.

"Whoa," Hurley observed in awe.

"I don't know about you guys, but Temple of Doom was my least favorite of the series and nothing about it sounds like a good idea to me," Dean remarked.

Jack shook his head as they all studied the depth of the canyon in front of them and the dilapidated, handmade expansion bridge that brought the two sides together. "You never mentioned anything about a bridge."

"I never saw this before," Sayid admitted.

"There's no way she could have built this all by herself," Jack remarked as they continued to study it.

"No, but her team could have," Sayid suggested.

"That's even considering that she or her team had anything to do with this," Dean told them.

"Yeah, this could have been something Ethan's team did," Charlie agreed.

"Regardless of how it got here, I'm wondering if it's even safe to…" Dean began as they all heard the bridge creak. They all turned and watched as Hurley shuffled across the bridge slowly.

"Oh holy shit…"

"Hurley, what are you doing?" Jack demanded as he rushed to the edge.

"Relax, I'm just going to check it out," Hurley told them over his shoulder. "You guys should stay here."

Dean chuckled at Hurley's cavalier attitude while Jack's face turned a deep shade of red. "Hurley, get back here!"

"Dudes, chill," Hurley told them as he continued his meander across the bridge. They all held their breath and watched as he made it more than halfway across.

"You know, not to kill the suspenseful mood, but knowing that Hurley crossed this thing, we should all be fine," Dean whispered as Charlie nodded in agreement while Jack shot him a venomous look. "Kill the look, Jack. You're just pissed he disregarded your orders."

Jack opened his mouth to argue and closed it as Hurley made it safely to the other side. They each let out a joint breath of relief before Charlie moved forward and began to mimic Hurley's trek.

"Charlie…" Jack warned him as he rushed forward to stop him.

"Dear god, Jack. Just back off, huh?" Dean asked as Charlie turned around and shot them a reassuring smile.

"Besides, if he can do it..." he motioned over to Hurley with a smile before he resumed his slow steps. Dean held in his breath again as they all watched every step Charlie took as he got closer and closer to Hurley.

"Alright, Charlie. Just a few more steps," Dean muttered as Charlie glanced up Hurley. Dean felt it before he saw it happen, as the rope railing on his left where he had rested his hand began to slack.

"Charlie, run!" Dean yelled as the rope snapped and the bridge began to collapse from underneath him.

"Charlie!" Jack yelled as Dean crouched down and tried to even out his breathing. The bridge began to twist underneath Charlie before he jumped for the other side. He clutched onto the ground as his lower half dangled over the end of the canyon as Hurley crouched down and pulled him up the rest of the way.

"Dude, you okay?" Hurley asked as Dean stood back up and let out a deep breath.

"Charlie you asshole," Dean laughed out as he shook his head incredulously.

"I'm okay," Charlie declared as he held his arms up over his head. "Woo!"

"Let's not start celebrating too early," Dean shouted back. "You two are still stuck over there while we're over here."

Jack nodded his head as he let out another breath before he motioned to Charlie and Hurley. "Alright, you two stay put right there! We're going to find a way around and we'll meet you there!" Dean glanced over at Jack's authoritative tone and couldn't help but let out a derisive snort.

Hurley waved him off and disregarded his orders as he motioned to the path laid out right next to them. "Nah, screw that! You guys stay! There's a path right here, Charlie and me…"

"Hurley, will you shut up and listen to Jack?" Charlie spat back incredulously. "He said stay put! You're acting like a bloody lunatic!"

Dean could translate the hurt on Hurley's face even from the distance he was at and winced. "Look, either way, we gotta find a way to get you guys back across. If you do wander off, just watch out for trips wires or anything else that looks rigged," Dean shouted.

"Dean, what the hell?" Jack hissed.

"Please, you couldn't stop Hurley from going into the jungle, you're not gonna stop him from whatever it is he's looking for," Dean shot back.

"They could get killed," Jack informed him.

"Yeah, well, between those two they've survived a plane crash and makeshift lynch. I think luck's with them for right now," Dean shot back.

"Enough of this," Sayid interrupted them. "We will not accomplish anything if we remain here and argue all day."

"Couldn't agree more," Dean shot back. "Should Sayid and I lead the way or would you like to go first and keep whatever you find a secret?"

Jack shot Dean a frustrated sneer before he roughly shoved past him to lead them both down the trail. "Must you antagonize him?"

"Says the other guy that's content to hide information from people that aren't lucky enough to be asked to accompany them on certain hikes," Dean shot back. "You and him are pretty much the same kind of person in my book."

Sayid had the grace to look ashamed as Dean brushed past him to follow Jack down the path near what had once been the bridge. It only took a few moments before Sayid jogged past him and Jack and took the lead while they continued to walk.

Dean wasn't heartless, he genuinely did care about Charlie and Hurley and didn't want harm to befall either one of them. However, the hand holding that Jack was giving out in the form of brusque orders had to stop. He was a great choice for the leader of their group. The only doctor to a bunch of crash survivors. Dean was just terrified that the responsibility was going straight to his head.

He couldn't be more grateful that Sayid had managed to take the lead away from Jack. For as smart a guy as Jack was, Dean would bet good money that he'd completely bypass any traps that had been set. Or worse. "He'd set one off," Dean muttered.

He managed to stop himself before he ran face first into Jack's back and glanced around at the area that Sayid was currently scrutinizing. "Why'd we stop?"

"What?" Jack asked Sayid's back.

"This is familiar…this area," Sayid told them as he kept his attention on the area around them. "We're close."

"How do you know?" Jack asked dubiously as he stepped around him and walked further. "I thought she lived underground?"

"Jack, if Sayid recognizes even a glimpse of the area and she did live here, it might not be a good idea to just walk around as if…" Dean began as Jack glanced back at them skeptically before his leg connected with a trip wire situated low to the ground.

"Jack!"

All three of them dove out of the way as the area in front of them exploded suddenly and violently, a trail of fire and debris left in its wake. "Holy shit," Dean yelled as he looked back up at the flames it had incited.

"What the hell was that?" Jack yelled as he stood back up and made his way over to the explosion site with Sayid and Dean in tow.

"I informed the two of you that Danielle was a highly disturbed and paranoid individual," Sayid admonished them as they all three stopped at the crater the explosion had left and studied the debris. There was nothing left.

"This is one hell of a security system," Jack admitted as they all three climbed down into the crater and began to dig through the burnt and destroyed items. "Somebody trips a wire and the whole place blows up?"

"Not much different than picking up a random doll and ending up with an arrow through your shoulder," Dean observed wryly.

"There's nothing here," Sayid announced over their commiseration.

"Batteries?" Jack asked.

"Nothing," Sayid confirmed.

"Well, that's just a slice of good news to add to this perfect day," Dean muttered as he kicked at some of the debris at his feet.

"I don't get it," Jack admitted as he glanced back around at the rubble that surrounded them.

"Oh you mean the lack of items to go with this amazing fire sale?" Dean shot sarcastically.

"She knew," Sayid admitted as dawning registered on his face. "She knew that one day I'd come back and bring others. So she abandoned this place, booby-trapped it, and moved on."

"Moved on where?" Jack asked.

"Anywhere," Dean admitted. "The woman has survived for god knows how long on this island. Alone. She managed to build a shelter…underground. That's not the general kind of skill you see outside of hard core survivalists. For all we know, she's done a whole Swiss Family Robinson and built herself a nice little treehouse far away from any more danger."

"Cute," Jack told him as he glanced back around at the wreckage. "I know we've only given this place a cursory glance, but maybe we should look through all this debris before we head back out?"

"That is a good idea," Sayid admitted as Dean nodded and they all parted to look through things. "We can make a pile of anything that may be semi-usable over there."

"10-4, Captain," Dean announced as he crouched down into the ashes and pulled out several items. He threw a few farther into the pile behind him before he found some pieces of glass and a few metal springs that he wanted to take back to camp. "Just give me a few paperclips and I might be able to MacGuyver this crap into a speedboat," he announced.

"There's actually not a lot here left," Jack admitted at Dean's announcement. "Sayid you were right."

"Some things we can use," Sayid told them as he laid two lanterns down near a pile of items Jack had gathered.

"We still need to find Hurley and Charlie and get out of this jungle," Jack told them wearily. "I just hate that we're going home empty handed."

"Story of my life," Dean snorted over at him as he knelt down next to some brush and pulled up a photo that had been charred around the edges. "Who do you think she is?" Dean asked as he held it up.

Sayid turned and glanced at the photo for a moment before he walked forward and took it from Dean's grasp with a smile. "Her name is Nadia. I left it the last time I was here. I did not think I would see this again."

Dean smiled over at him and reassuringly patted his back right as Charlie stumbled into the clearing and nearly collapsed in panic. "Charlie, dude. We were just about to come looking for you two."

"Someone shot at us, Hurley and me," Charlie told them in a rush. "We were looking for you when..." He trailed off as he stopped to catch his breath and Sayid shot a determined look to Jack.

"Rousseau."

"Where's Hurley?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. He was right behind me and then he just…he just wasn't," Charlie admitted.

Jack and Dean shared a worried look as Sayid removed his backpack and lowered it to the ground. "I'll go and find him."

"Hang on a second, Fred. I don't think now is a good time for the Scooby Gang to split up," Dean argued as he held up his hands at Sayid.

"Dean's right. We'll all go," Jack agreed with him.

"Go where?" Hurley asked from behind them. They all spun in surprise as Hurley entered the clearing nonchalantly and stopped at the edge.

"Hurley, what the hell happened to you?" Charlie asked in amazement as Hurley pulled his backpack around to his front and pulled out a large battery.

"Need a battery?" He asked ironically as he handed it off to Jack easily. Charlie, Dean, Sayid and Jack stared down at the battery in Jack's hands as if it held all the answers to the universe before they fixed their attention back on Hurley.

He glanced over at Sayid and gave him a deliberate nod. "She says, hey."

* * *

Dean and Charlie stopped behind Hurley and regarded him for a moment as he stood in front of one of the campfires on the beach and held a t-shirt over it with a stick. "I know food's scarce, but your shirt?" Charlie shot at his back before they both came around and bestowed him with twin looks of curiosity.

"When you guys find a Laundromat, let me know," Hurley muttered back as he pulled his shirt away from the fire.

"You know, if you hang it from a tree branch, it'll get dry and won't get any sand in it," Dean suggested. Hurley glanced at Dean and then back at his shirt before he nodded at Dean's suggestion in appreciation.

"You know, back in the jungle before we became target practice you were going to tell me what inspired this little quest of yours," Charlie began.

Dean glanced over at Hurley and awarded him with an interested look which Hurley immediately noticed and allowed a sheepish expression to cross his features. He glanced down at the sand before he looked back up at the two of them and awarded them with a look of shame. "I think the plane crash might have been my fault."

"Don't be daft," Charlie admonished him. "How could you possibly..."

"Hey, before we came here a lot of bad stuff used to happen whenever I was around," Hurley informed them.

"Dude, you're preaching to the choir," Dean told him. "Sometimes I can't help but wonder if my life is the result of every mirror I've ever broken catching up with me."

"Hurley, bad things happen, planes crash, people die..." Charlie explained.

"Dude, you guys gotta let me finish," Hurley told them.

"You think you're the only person with baggage?" Charlie asked on a roll. "You know what I was doing when the plane went down? I was snorting heroin in the toilet. I was such a junkie I couldn't even take a plane ride without having a fix. I suppose that was your fault, as well?"

Dean's mind immediately recalled the day that he had swam out to save Boone and the dazed look Charlie had given him right beforehand. It all seemed to snap into place at that moment. "Man, you really took off with that whole rock and roll fantasy, didn't you? Didn't even need the jesters, one, two, three."

"This is a serious moment and you have to soil it with Bad Company?" Charlie asked incredulously before he turned back to Hurley with an understanding smile. "So how about it?"

"What?" Hurley asked.

"I just told you the biggest secret of my life," Charlie informed him. "I thought you'd want to reciprocate."

Hurley paused to think about Charlie's request for a moment, an internal war present on his features before he reluctantly nodded his head. "Okay," he told him as he inhaled deeply and then let it out methodically. "Back home I'm worth 156 million dollars."

Charlie's face fell as he glanced over at Dean for confirmation before he turned back to Hurley and shook his head incredulously. "Fine. Don't tell me," he told him as he stood up and brushed the sand off of his jeans.

"Dude…"

"I bare my soul, and all I get is bloody jokes!" Charlie snapped before he turned and walked away from the campfire.

Dean stared over at Hurley with a shocked expression on his face before he glanced over at Charlie's retreating back and let out a deep laugh. "That guy seriously doesn't know when to just shut up and listen, does he? Why do I get the feeling that you were telling the truth just now?"

"Because I was…" Hurley told him. "It feels like this is the first place I can escape from that damn cursed money."

Dean pondered his answer for a moment before he gave him a nod of approval. "You know, I'm not really a CIA agent," he began as Hurley shook his head in denial.

"I get that you can't let anybody know that you're a CIA agent, but I figured it out on my own so…"

"Dude, do you want to know the truth or not?" Dean laughed as Hurley opened his mouth and closed it before he uneasily nodded his head. Dean thought back to the last person he had told about his childhood spent in training to become a hunter. Cassie. That had gone over well. She had taken his greatest secret and shoved it back in his face as she simultaneously stomped his heart into the ground.

"Well…?" Hurley asked patiently.

So Hurley thought that he was a CIA agent. It really could have been a lot worse than that.

"I'm terrified of flying," Dean admitted. At Hurley's disappointed look Dean flashed him a dazzling smile and shrugged nonchalantly.

Hurley stared at his face in confusion as he tried to work out if Dean was telling the truth of not before he let out a dissatisfied sigh. "Yeah…dude, I'm thinking after this crash, we all are. Weak."

* * *

"This is Dean Winchester. If this is an emergency, leave a message. If you are calling about 11/2/83, page me with your coordinates." _**BEEP**_

John Winchester let out a ragged sigh as he moved the payphone receiver from his right ear to his left. "Dean, it's me…dad," he spoke into the phone before he glanced over his shoulder at the shadows that were reflected on the rest stop pavement. "Look, I know it's been a while since we've spoken, but it's all because of a good lead that I got on the thing that got your mom. Well, the lead that I HAD on it…I lost it about a month ago."

John leaned his head against the cool glass of the payphone booth and closed his eyes as the tension from the last month finally caught up to him and he felt himself begin to surrender to it. "Something's been following me since then, son. I'm not sure what it is and, to be perfectly honest, I haven't even seen it yet…but I can feel it. I know you've got Sammy with you and he probably doesn't want to see me right now, but I could really use the backup. I purchased a prepaid earlier today and it should be set up before tomorrow morning. Call me back as soon as possible at 481-516-2342. I won't be in one place for too long until I hear from you."

**Author's Note: Oddly enough, this was not the John Winchester appearance that I had hinted at in the previous chapter. I've started to write the epilogue to this story that'll lead into the next one and John Winchester is prominent in it…just to give out some news! Anybody recognize the tie in from the last section of this story to the LOST universe? I just had to throw that in based on the nature of this episode. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and is willing to give me some love. I'll get the next chapter up as quickly as possible.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LOST or Supernatural.**

Sam heard the familiar sound of radio static blare to life behind him before he glanced over his shoulder and bestowed a contemplative look to Bernard. He could remember a hunting incident, very clearly, from around the time he was sixteen years old when his father had not only allowed, but insisted that he and Dean back him up.

His task had been simple…research. He'd only been at it for two hours before he had not only identified the spirit of a child killer that the police had shot down in a raid decades before, but he even managed to gift-wrap the location of the pedophile's grave. He had been proud of himself and even his father had been in optimistic spirits as they approached the gravesite to do their work…until they ran into two young self-proclaimed psychics that stopped them and refused to let them dig.

It had turned out that the two "psychics" had managed to communicate with their spirit through white noise and the spirit had assured them both of his innocence. The look of pure disbelief on his father's face had been in stark contrast to the rage on his brother's as Dean had thrown down his shovel and readied himself to beat the two men into submission right at the exact moment that same spirit had materialized behind the two men and snapped the youngest one's neck.

"Bunch of fruitcakes out there," he muttered to himself before he stopped short and chuckled at the irony of the mass amounts of people that would effortlessly classify him and Dean under that pseudonym if they knew the raw details regarding their lives.

He returned his attention to Bernard and watched in beguiled interest as Bernard held the radio device outstretched in front of him with the antenna fully extended and slowly spun the dial back and forth, the static consistent the entire time. "Do you really think you'll be able to get that thing to pick up anything?" Sam asked as his natural curiosity finally got the better of him.

"That's the plan," Bernard admitted as he kept his concentration on the device in his hands and continued to roll the dial slowly. "Since we've run out of optimism in our crash group, I thought I'd try for some hope instead."

"Seems like a waste of time to me," Ana Lucia bit out from behind Sam. "There's no signal."

"…yet," Bernard corrected her. "There's no signal yet."

"Besides, if it gives him hope then it's not that much of a waste of time," Sam whispered back to her. He didn't miss the fear in her as he addressed her before the carefree scowl that had taken up recent residence on her face returned and she shook her head at him bitterly. "Hope is a good thing, you know."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, Shawshank," Ana Lucia murmured back at him.

"Look, I only turn it on for a couple of minutes a day," Bernard defended himself in exasperation as he slowly pivoted his body and the radio away from where the antenna had already been pointed in vain. "It really doesn't..."

The steady consistency of the static dulled down as a high pitched whine flowed through the radio speaker before a panicked voice filled the clearing that they were standing in. "Hello. Hello, anybody out there? Mayday. Mayday."

Sam slowly stood up from his crouched position on the ground, his face a mask of shock as Libby and Cindy ran past him to Bernard in excitement. He managed to recover himself quickly enough as his feet carried him forward and stopped directly in front of Bernard as he raised the radio to his mouth with shaking hands. "Is there someone there?"

"Hello! Hello?" The voice responded quickly.

"Who is that? Oh my god!" Cindy laughed as Sam moved closer to Bernard and held his hand out for the radio with an inquisitive look on his face. Bernard glanced down at the radio one last time before he handed it over to Sam with an excited smile and a nod.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" The voice repeated.

"Just barely," Sam spoke into the radio. "I need you to repeat your transmission, please."

Sam grimaced as a strong wave of static responded to his request. He shook the radio a few times before he spun around and held it up to clear the message as the voice faintly spoke again. "Hello. We're survivors of the crash of Oceanic flight 815! Please copy!"

Relief washed over Sam as he lowered the radio and allowed his thoughts to focus on his brother, alive and well somewhere on this island with another group of survivors. He glanced over at Bernard and shared a victorious smile with the only other person in their group that could relate to him and the fact that they each had a family member from the plane crash that was unaccounted for. He choked down the laugh that had threatened to come up from his throat and held the radio back up as he tried to ensure that his voice didn't shake from his current surge of emotions. "I copy you. We're also survivors of flight 815." Sam began before Ana Lucia approached him, grabbed the radio from his hands and effectively switched it off.

"No, don't" Sam panicked as he lunged for the radio and nearly slugged Ana Lucia when she pulled away from him and held it out of his grasp. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"It's them," she informed them all slowly. She opened up the back of the radio and pulled out the batteries as she held them up for them to see. "They're trying to draw us out…trying to find us."

"No…he said 815," Bernard frantically reminded her, his eyes wide with hope. "He said flight 815."

"They know our flight number because Goodwin knew our flight number," Ana Lucia countered as a tired and resolute look settled over her features.

"Ana, you don't know that," Sam softly told her. "Our plane broke apart. Who's to say that the other sections of the plane didn't land inward and produce other survivors?"

"Yeah. What if there really are other survivors out there? They may not even know about the people that were already on this island before us," Bernard agreed.

"No!" Ana Lucia snapped before she threw the bundle of batteries from the radio into some foliage away from them. "There are no survivors. This is our life now. Get used to it."

* * *

It hadn't been all that difficult for Sam to follow Ana Lucia from the clearing after her outburst. She was both sleep deprived and wound so tightly that he kept waiting for her to lash out in a more grand gesture than her already tense actions had, so far, produced. However, the most troubling truth was that she had also gotten sloppy…unaware…and her guard seemed to be down. Dangerously down.

He remained at the edge of the treeline and quietly watched Ana Lucia as she sank down onto a rock next to the stream that had provided their drinking water for the last few weeks. She very carefully set the gutted radio down in front of her and stared down at it for several moments before her regular breathing became labored. She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth as a soft sob escaped her mouth.

Sam moved to approach her and bit back a curse as a branch snapped underneath his foot. She immediately tensed up and wiped away at her face before she turned to glance up at him from over her shoulder, her features hardening as a condescending chuckle escaped from her mouth.

"What are you looking at?" She asked in self-deprecation as she turned her back on him and faced the stream head on.

Sam didn't quite know how to respond to her emotional state. Ever since the crash, almost 40 days prior, Ana Lucia had worked very hard to keep up the façade of strength and leadership for the other survivors, but it all seemed like it had finally started to crumble from underneath her. "Ana, it's gonna be okay," he murmured from his spot behind her.

"Don't," Ana Lucia snapped as she harshly wiped at the remaining moisture on her cheeks and eyes. "Just don't." She held up her hand behind her as she continued to stare away from Sam so she could gather herself from her momentary slip. It was all too much. He was a survivor of a plane crash, on a deserted island where some unknown group of people kept picking them off one by one. His brother was missing. Two weeks ago he had murdered another human being. And now Ana Lucia was shutting down and shutting him out?

"No, you don't," Sam responded as he moved forward and took a seat next to her. He reached for the radio and studied it for a moment before he nodded over at her in frustration. "What's going on? Why are you so upset?"

She let out a bitter laugh before she finally faced him eye to eye and shook her head. "I need just one reason to be upset after all of the crap from the last two months?" Ana Lucia questioned him. "Is that what you're saying?"

"No, I'm not saying that at all," he assured her. "I just want you to talk to me."

Ana Lucia sucked in a deep breath as she stared down at the rocks underneath her legs and shook her head back and forth. He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder which tensed under his fingertips before she glanced over at it and then looked back up at Sam in anguish. "I think this is my punishment, Sam. This is my punishment for what I did. For killing that man."

Sam's throat constricted around a lump as her face fell again and her shoulders shook with sobs before he reached forward and engulfed her in his arms. She relaxed in his embrace and collapsed completely against his chest while she lost herself in her shaking sobs. "I think I died in the crash and I'm in hell," she murmured. "They sent me to hell for what I did."

Sam held her close and rubbed her back as she continued to sob and murmur against his chest. What could he tell her? How could a person that had seen so much evil in the world, and had been a force against it, tell her that there was no hell if he didn't entirely believe those words himself? It was clear now what he had to do. There were definitely other people on this island from their crash and his brother HAD to be with them. He had to find him.

* * *

Dean deeply breathed in the salty air that lingered around them and exhaled around a relaxed sigh before he leaned forward and snagged a piece of fish off of the leaf Sawyer had turned into a crude plate. "Hey now, eat your own damn food," Sawyer admonished him with an amused chuckle.

"I can't help it if Walt likes you more than me and decided to give you first dibs," Dean retorted as he pointed an accusatory finger over at Walt with a smile. "Dude, and after I taught you how to play poker..." He shook his head as he held a hand to his wounded heart.

"That explains it, then," Sawyer responded. "If the kid wants to know how to play poker, he shoulda come to the master." Sawyer set down the large leaf that had his dinner on it and held his arms out in front of him in a grand show.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Dean reiterated. "I taught him how to play poker."

Michael chuckled around a mouthful of fish at Sawyer and Dean's friendly bantering before he drew his son's attention to the other fish he had over their campfire. "You've got to flip it or it'll burn, Walt," he instructed patiently.

"Don't worry about mine, little man," Dean told him with a surreptitious grin. "The best catfish that I ever ate was in New Orleans and trust me when I say that they cook those suckers until they're black and crispy."

"This ain't catfish, Hoss," Sawyer told him as he stared down at the fish on his leaf wistfully. "Unfortunately." He let out a deep chuckle at Dean's nod of agreement as Claire slowly ambled up to them and inspected their food. "Hey, mamacita. You want some fish?" Sawyer offered with a welcoming smile.

She gave the food a cursory glance before she shook her head around a grimace. "No, thanks. I'm not really hungry."

"Is that normal?" Dean asked as he sat up and nodded at her pregnant stomach. "I'm more than likely about to hit on a hot button issue here, but shouldn't you be pretty close to popping?"

"Thanks for reminding me of my impending birth in the wild," Claire muttered as she nodded over to the raft. "How long do you think? 'Til it's ready?"

"Maybe a week, maybe less," Michael answered with a shrug as a pensive expression fell over her features. "Hey, you sure you're okay?"

Claire pulled her attention away from the raft and shook herself out of her thoughts in time to bestow a tight smile onto all of them. "Oh yeah, I'm fine," her smile waned slightly as she turned away from them and began to head back towards the beach. "Alright, well…I'll see you guys later." She didn't wait for them to respond before she quickly brushed past Sawyer, holding her swollen stomach the entire way.

Sawyer followed Claire as she walked away from them before he turned back to Dean, Michael and Walt and awarded them with a smug grin. "She likes me."

"Oh yeah," Dean snorted. "And…clearly, Michael never taught his son which mushrooms to gather that can cause a person to hallucinate," he muttered back as Michael let out a deep laugh and Walt scrunched up his face.

"But, I didn't use mushrooms when I cooked these."

"Well, at least someone's on my side," Sawyer chastised them as he threw a conspiratorial wink at Walt.

"Hey, Jin! Jin!" Michael yelled back to Jin as he continued to chop supplies for the raft. "Want some fish? Hey, take a break. Eat some fish."

Jin barely glanced up from his work before he waved them off in aggravation and resumed his task of chopping wood. "The man's got what I call an overzealous work ethic," Sawyer told them as he picked up another piece of fish and popped it into his mouth.

"Try obsession," Michael muttered. "He wants off this island bad, man."

"Can't say I blame poor Kato. His lady speaks English all this time and he didn't have a clue?" Sawyer muttered with a grin. "I'm surprised he didn't try to swim out of here. Hell, I would've..."

"Sawyer!" Kate interrupted him as she ran up to their group and allowed a frightened expression to cover her features. "Dean, thank god you're here too. There's been an accident. Jack said that he needs your help," she told him before she turned her attention back to Sawyer. "…and he needs your entire stash of alcohol."

Dean and Sawyer both stood from their spots and regarded her carefully as her less than calm exterior faded away to reveal the tension she had been trying to keep inside. "Now!"

"All my stuff's in my tent," Sawyer told her as he nodded for the both of them to follow him. They stayed close as Sawyer lead them in a beeline to his tent, but Dean couldn't help but notice the dread that Kate seemed to have leaking off of her in layers. "Are you gonna tell us what the hell's going on that's got you in such a panic?"

"And why does Jack need my help with it?" Dean followed up Sawyer's question. "Is it serious? Because, I'm really trying to help Michael get this raft ready to sail."

"Boone's hurt," Kate told them as they all three entered Sawyer's tent and they watched as he retrieved a large leather suitcase from under a pile of items that he had covered it with. "He's hurt really bad and Jack mentioned that you helped him out with the Marshall so..."

Sawyer unzipped the suitcase and began to pull out miniatures and handed them off to Kate without a fight as she transplanted them into her backpack. "How'd it happen?"

"Locke said that Boone fell off of a cliff while they were out hunting for boar," she explained as she wrapped up the pile of bottles she already had with a t-shirt before she held out her hand for more to place on top of the makeshift padding.

"Locke said that he fell off of a cliff while they were hunting?" Dean questioned her before he shook his head. "Nope…I call bullshit."

"I agree," Sawyer told them as he continued to clean out his personal store and hand them off to Kate. "Those two are constantly hunting, but they never actually come back with anything. Even Elmer Fudd managed to get a catch a few things every now and then."

He put the last bottle he had in Kate's hands and glanced up at her warily. "Is that it?" She asked as she placed it around the other bottles and wrapped them all up in another t-shirt.

"Afraid so," he told her around a defeated sigh. He stood back up and nodded down at her backpack with a weary expression. "You two need anything else? I could come with y'all."

"Too many cooks already," Kate dismissed him before she allowed a grateful smile to stretch across her face. "But thanks."

"Hey, we may have too many cooks right now, but keep yourself ready just in case we send someone down here for more items or help if Jack needs them," Dean told him. He waited until Sawyer offered him an understanding nod before he and Kate left Sawyer's tent and took off into the jungle at full speed.

He hated the long trek to the caves even when he was calm and going at a regular pace, but he couldn't help but notice that he was always in the wrong location whenever any kind of crisis occurred with this group of people. If he had a dollar for every single time he'd been forced to run back and forth from the beach to the caves, well… "I could buy a Big Mac, that's for sure," he muttered to himself.

Dean glanced over his shoulder and stopped short when he realized that Kate had fallen behind by several yards and she seemed to be struggling to keep up. "Kate, are you ok?" he yelled back to her as he began to backtrack his steps. It wouldn't do him any good to get to the caves to help Jack without the supplies Jack had sent Kate for. She smiled up at him in gratitude before she suddenly tripped over some brush and fell to her side on the ground…hard.

"Kate!" Dean yelled as he rushed over to help her up. The closer he got to the fallen woman, the more he noticed the familiar smell of liquor that lingered in the air.

"I landed on my pack," she told him, close to tears as she sat up, pulled the pack to her front and unzipped it to reveal several broken bottles on top.

"It's ok, it's not your fault," Dean told her as he picked up her backpack, zipped it back up and transferred it onto his shoulders. "You ran all the way to the beach and now back, you must be exhausted. Why don't you take a break and I can get these over to..."

"Wait, stop," Kate told him as she held her fingers up to his mouth to silence him. She glanced around at the trees and brush surrounding them and listened intently over the natural sounds of the jungle before she heard a low and agonized moan. "Did you hear that?"

Dean jerked away from her hand that she had against his mouth and stilled as he listened for what she had just heard and nodded as it sounded again. "Yeah, what is that?" he asked her as she lowered her arm and walked ahead of him slowly. He followed her as she rounded some low bushes and they both entered a clearing to find Claire, pitched forward on a large boulder and holding her stomach as she let out another agonizing sob.

"Claire? What are you doing out here?" Kate asked.

Claire straightened her back up with a wince and turned in their direction as she gave them a painful smile. "Nothing. Just leave me alone, please." She very casually grabbed her stomach again as she rested most of her weight on a thick branch in front of her.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me right now..." Dean muttered in disbelief as he felt nausea settle into his stomach.

"Oh god, you're having the baby," Kate surmised.

Dean held up his hands in front of him and backed several steps away from Claire as he shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. "No, no, no, no," he muttered. "This isn't happening, not right now. It can't be happening."

"Yeah, well…it is," Kate told him as she walked towards Claire and crouched down in front of her. "Claire, we need to get you back to camp."

"I'm fine. I just need to..." Claire trailed off around a wince before she glanced back up at Kate. "...I just need to catch my breath."

"See, she's fine. False alarm," Dean told them with false cheer in his voice. Give him a nasty spirit with a case of post-mortem PMS and he was fine, hell, he'd have that sucker salty and burnt in no time. But…childbirth? Nuh-uh. No way.

"It's not okay," Kate argued over her shoulder before she gave Claire a reassuring smile. "Claire, you're having your baby."

"No, I'm not, okay? It's just gas pains…its fine."

"Of course it's gas. We've been eating nothing but coconuts and fish since the boar stopped coming in…we all have gas. She's fine," Dean argued vehemently.

"You're having contractions, Claire!" Kate pointed out.

"No! I'm bloody not. Can you just leave me alone?" Claire yelled at her as she took a timid seat on the large boulder behind her and grasped at her convulsing stomach.

"C'mon, I've got to get you to Jack. Please try to stand. Please," Kate instructed.

"Look, I can't," Claire told her as she gave up arguing with Kate and allowed the full measure of her pain to show. "I can't stand and I can't walk."

Kate's eyes filled with a painful understanding as she nodded her head. "We need to go get Jack," she murmured as she rubbed Claire's back soothingly before she glanced up at Dean pleadingly.

"Being the gentleman that I was raised to be, I am more than happy to volunteer for that job right now," Dean told her as he re-shouldered the backpack and nodded in the direction of the caves.

Kate held his gaze wryly, the apprehension on her face reflected back at her in his eyes as she shook her head in acquiescence. "Hurry, Dean. Please hurry." Dean nodded down at her and gave Claire one last reassuringly nervous smile before he turned and ran through the trees towards the caves.

"Of course this is happening today," he murmured as he dodged branches and leaves hanging in his path until he could no longer hear Claire's grunts and moans of pain. "Hopefully Boone isn't too badly injured and we can wrap up today's drama in a nice little bow."

* * *

Wrong. That's what he was. Actually, not only was he completely wrong, but the hope that he had had for Boone to be only mildly injured flew straight out the window the second he saw his bloodied and battered body laid out on the cave floor. "Holy shit, I didn't think that it would be this bad," he muttered in astonishment.

"Yeah, well…it is," Jack told him as he moved back and forth around Boone and checked his body to catalogue his injuries. "Without the proper tools, I can't even begin to know everything that's wrong with him, but the short list would be a broken leg, one of his lungs collapsed earlier and he's lost a lot of blood." Jack informed them in frustrated disgust.

He glanced up and gave Dean a tightly grim look as Charlie entered the caves to the right of them. "I found an A," he told Jack enthusiastically while Dean carefully set the backpack that contained all of the liquor down next to Boone.

"Was it positive or negative?" Jack asked.

"She doesn't know," Charlie shook his head around a shrug. "But, I also found two B positives and one AB negative. At least, he thinks so."

"Hey, AB negative. Same as my dad," Dean remarked from his crouched position as he removed a few of the broken bottles and placed them in the side pockets of the backpack. He glanced back up to find Jack and Charlie both wearing twin looks of pensiveness as they stared him down.

"What?"

"Did you just say that you know your father's blood type?" Jack asked with hopeful incredulity.

"Of course I do," Dean told him as he stood back up and gave them a nonchalant shrug. "It was one of those Marine lessons that my dad slipped into training in case one of us ever needed a transfusion. Actually, I think Sammy and I ended up learning our blood types before we even knew how to spell our last name," he admitted.

"So then, you would be…?" Jack asked impatiently.

"A negative. Why?"

Jack closed his eyes as his shoulders sagged in relief before he opened them and awarded Dean with a triumphant smile. "Boone's A Negative."

Dean glanced back down at the bloodied and unconscious man on the ground and immediately understood Jack's rationale as he quickly pulled off his over-shirt and handed it over to Charlie. He took a seat on the cave floor next to Boone and couldn't help the involuntary grimace that worked up his spine and across his face as the young man before him let out a few reflexive moans of pain. "Well, it looks like I was just upgraded from nurse and supply-runner to official donor." He rolled the excess fabric of his t-shirt sleeve up to his shoulder and rested his forearm in front of him as he balled up his fist a few times before he glanced back up at Jack. "Let's get this done."

"No, it's not that simple," Jack told him in dismay as he shook his head.

"Like hell it isn't. Boone needs blood and I happen to be an identical carrier," Dean informed him as he nodded back down at his outstretched arm. "Just try to make sure you stop before I pass out completely."

"No, what I mean is that I don't have anything sharp enough to hit a vein," Jack told him desolately.

"Perhaps I can help with that," Sun interrupted as she entered the caves with a large bucket and set it down next to Dean. She reached into the bucket with a pair of improvised tongs and pulled out a sea urchin, which she held up proudly for all three of them to see. At their confused looks she rolled her eyes and carefully broke off one of the spines hanging off of the creature and held it up for Jack to see. "A hollow needle sharp enough to pierce a noodle."

Jack took the tiny spine from her hand and ran the pad of his thumb over the sharp point of the item a few times. He smiled gloriously up at Sun and nodded his head back down at the 'needle' in appreciation. "It's perfect," he commented as Sun beamed at her find.

"This is good, right?" Charlie asked. "Dean's A negative and you now have a needle that can get the blood out of him and into Boone."

"Tip of the iceberg, I'd say," Dean told him as he stared down at the injured man next to him in sympathy.

"By the way, where were you when I was running around the island like a crazy person asking every bloody person I could find what their blood type was?" Charlie asked as he turned his ashen face from Boone and glanced over at Dean.

Dean snorted in derision at Charlie's mock annoyance and focused his attention up at Jack as he prepared the supplies that would take his healthy blood out of him and put it into Boone before dawning sliced through his thoughts and he sat straight back up with an embarrassed wince. "Oh geez, I almost forgot…Jack!" Jack turned to him from over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows as Dean gave him a sheepish look. "Claire's in labor."

"She's what?!" Charlie exclaimed as Jack let out a deep sigh and shook his head in bemused frustration. "Is she ok? Is she alone? Does she need anything? Oh god, what if she…" Charlie ranted in panic.

"Charlie, this isn't helping," Jack cut him off before he turned his stretched attention back to Dean. "What's going on? Are you sure she's having the baby now?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure," Dean told him. "Not that she herself wants to admit to it, but she was getting those sharp and shooting pains in her abdomen every few minutes or so."

"Is she alone?" Jack asked.

"Kate's with her right now," Dean told him. "She's still in the jungle…she said she couldn't walk."

"Is she nauseous? Was there any bleeding? Did her water break?" Jack asked very carefully.

"No, nothing like that. Just the shooting pain and she couldn't really move. Or she didn't want to, I'm not sure," Dean shrugged.

"We should go right now," Charlie cut in frantically. "What do we need…towels, bandages, hot water? Dear god, how do we take hot water?"

"Dude, are you serious?" Dean asked amusedly as Jack pulled a piece of rubber tubing out of his homemade medical kit and tied it tightly around Dean's upper arm. "You just light a campfire and place the water over it," he instructed Charlie as Jack nodded up at Dean and waited for him to nod back before he inserted the urchin spine into his arm. Almost immediately, blood pooled from his arm through the needle and traveled out of his body to the excess tubing Jack had set up.

"Boiling water aside, I'm sure you'll be able to figure everything out, alright Charlie?" Jack asked. Charlie nodded at Jack's insistence before Jack turned back to Dean. "How far from the beach are they?"

"Not even a quarter mile out, and they're on a path…that really clear one that leads up to here," Dean told them as he vigilantly kept his eyes away from the needle in his arm and the subsequent blood that travelled out of him.

"Ok, do you know where Dean's talking about?" Jack asked before Charlie slowly nodded. "Good, head over there and help Kate out."

"Wait, that…that dilating thing. How do I look out for that?" Charlie asked, his face a mask of seriousness.

"Oh man, is it a good idea to send him?" Dean piped up. "No offense, Charlie. I already had my freak out moment."

"None taken, mate," Charlie assured him.

"Charlie, listen to me," Jack demanded as he ignored Dean. "Okay, Charlie, look at me. I need you to tell Kate to wait until the contractions are sixty seconds apart, you got that?" Charlie nodded up at him before Jack continued. "Now, she's going to need to make sure that Claire pushes, but not too hard, not too fast…just until the head is clear. And then, as hard as she can. When the baby is out make sure that she clears the nose and the mouth."

"Yeah, but…" Charlie stopped as he glanced down at Boone with a wince before he looked back over at Dean. "You'll be there by then, right?"

Jack let out another sigh before he shook his head sadly. "No, I'm not going anywhere. I need to stay here. You're gonna have to tell Kate that she has to deliver this baby."

* * *

Boone let out another painful groan as more of Dean's blood worked its way into his system. "Hey man, I know you're in some serious pain right now, but you should look on the bright side. You have grade-A top choice blood working through your veins. If that stuff doesn't completely heal you, I'm pretty sure nothing will."

Boone allowed a small smile to grace his features before his face twisted up as another wave of pain washed over him. "Jack?! Is there anything we can give him for the pain?" Dean asked as his sympathetic attention remained on Boone.

"I've already given him the strongest meds that I have," Jack told him with an apologetic shake of his head. "How are you doing?" He asked as he crouched down and checked the needle in Dean's arm.

Dean glanced down at the needle in his arm before he gave Jack a dazzling but tired smile and waved him off. "I'm doing fine. We're good to keep going for a little bit longer."

Jack studied his face for the sincerity in his words and seemed to find it as he nodded his head and stood back up. "Just let me know when you start to get dizzy," Jack told him before he turned and walked away from them and back to his supplies.

Dean's smile faded as he shook his head against a dizzy spell and gave Jack's back a mocking 'thumbs up' in retaliation to his commanding voice. "You should have told him that you were already feeling dizzy," Boone murmured from beneath him.

"I'm fine, man," Dean told him. "In the grand scheme of things, dizziness sure beats the hell out of all of the crap that you're going through."

Boone let out a weak chuckle before they both settled into a comfortable silence, their collective breathing the only noise to keep the other informed that they were both still alive and conscious. Dean laid his head back against the cave wall and closed his eyes as he let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you."

Dean opened his eyes and glanced down at Boone as he shook his head against another dizzy spell. He furrowed his brow at Boone's words as he stared up at him, his eyes flooded with sincerity. "What are you talking about?"

"That day…when you saved me from drowning. I never said thank you…only yelled at you," Boone slowly told him. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no worries," Dean quickly assured him. "We're good, you and I."

"I screwed myself up pretty bad, huh?" Boone asked timidly.

"You didn't do anything," Dean explained to him. "This was all just an accident."

"My leg, it hurts," Boone admitted.

"Jack," Dean called out to him from across the caves. He waited until the doctor turned around before he nodded down at Boone. "He's complaining about his leg."

Jack nodded over at him as he jogged the distance between them and crouched down next to Boone so he could inspect the damage to his leg. He glanced back up at Dean and gave him a defeated look before he addressed Boone directly. "I need you to not try moving. Can you breathe okay?"

"It fell on me," Boone answered him.

Dean and Jack exchanged identical looks of confusion before Dean glanced back down at Boone. "What fell on you?"

"A plane," Boone told them. "It was a plane."

"No, Boone, the plane crashed over a month ago," Dean corrected him.

"Boone." Jack called out for his attention. "Boone, Locke said that you fell from a cliff."

"No…it was…it fell," Boone corrected him. "The plane. It's because of the hatch. We found a hatch."

"Did he just say that they found a hatch?" Dean mumbled weakly.

"He's delirious, Dean," Jack told him. "Boone, Boone, stay with me, man. Hey, stay with me."

"Locke said…John said…John said not to tell. About the hatch."

"Is it just the blood loss that I'm going through or does what he's saying not make a lick of sense?" Dean asked.

"What did Locke do? What hatch? What..." Jack asked.

"Oh, my leg hurts," Boone groaned.

"Boone? Boone…hey," Jack tried to regain his attention.

"Shannon, Shannon, Shannon..." Boone muttered weakly as his head lulled to the side.

"All he wants is his sister," Jack muttered as he shook his head.

"I can't say that I blame him," Dean commiserated. "After I got shot with that arrow and had to walk back to camp with it sticking out of me, all I could think about was Sam. It's already a horrible feeling to not know whether you're gonna live or die, but factor in that you may not get to see someone that you care about one last time and that feeling gets even worse."

* * *

Jack shined a small light into each of Boone's eyes before he let out a hissed curse and shook his head in frustration. "C'mon, Boone."

"It's not working," Sun observed.

"The blood's not the problem. It's the leg," Jack told them.

"Damn right the blood's not the problem…" Dean lazily murmured as he rested the brunt of his weight against the cave wall behind him. He knew for a fact that while Jack was busy with Boone, Sun had begun to notice how out-of-it he looked and he couldn't risk if she decided to pull the plug on the transfusion before Boone got better.

"All the blood's pooling in his leg," Jack explained to Sun. "Compartment syndrome."

Dean's eyes glazed as he looked down at Boone for a moment before he snapped them back into lucidity. "Is it too early or too late for me to be asking if we all really think that he fell off of a cliff?" he murmured tiredly.

Jack glanced back at him from over his shoulder and awarded him with a tight smile before he glanced back at Boone. "You see it too?"

"Of course I see it," Dean argued. "I fell from some scaffolding when I was thirteen and I still have the scar on my leg from when the bone ripped through my skin."

"So?" Sun spoke up innocently.

"So, Boone's leg is more than just broken," Jack explained to her. "Something crushed his leg. There's no way he got this injury from a fall alone."

Sun glanced back over at Dean as his eyelids closed again and he shook himself to stay conscious. She let out an incredulous huff before she stomped over to him and held up his arm in anger. She looked him in the eyes and studied his expression before she gently pulled the needle from his arm and stopped the transfusion.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jack asked as Dean glanced down at his bruised skin in a daze.

"He has given him enough," Sun snapped before she turned from the both of them and walked back across the caves to her area.

"No, I'm totally fine," Dean slurred as his head tilted slightly to one side.

"No, she's right," Jack told him grimly. "It does us no good to try to save him if we drain you dry in the process. Besides, it's pooling in his leg when it needs to circulate."

"So, what do we do now?" Dean tiredly asked. Even in his half lidded state, he could see how hard Jack was working to solve this problem, but he didn't know if it would do any good in the long run. Boone's entire leg was dead. Admittedly, if they were in any sort of civilized medical facility, Jack or any other doctor would have already begun the preparation to perform an amputation.

Jack stood up suddenly as Dean weakly got to his feet and staggered behind him as they both walked away from the part of the caves that Jack had cordoned off into the current medical section. "Hurley."

Hurley glanced up when he heard his name before he jogged towards them and stopped at Jack with a smile. His face paled as he turned to Dean and properly took in his appearance. "Whoa, dude. You alright, man? You're looking kind of…goth."

"I guess you could say that I'm a bit drained at the moment," Dean murmured as he mimed a slow rimshot in the air around him before he swayed slightly and then righted himself. He looked back up and startled as he noticed the attention of Jack, Hurley and Sun curiously trained on him and sheepishly shrugged. "I realize that this isn't the time to joke, but I'm barely conscious, so just deal with it, alright?"

Jack stared Dean down incredulously for another moment before he turned back to Hurley. "Where's Michael?"

"The beach, I think."

"I need you to go and get him for me, okay?" Jack requested.

"What for?" Hurley asked cautiously. Dean could see the muscles in Jack's jaw tense as his patience began to wane from Hurley's inquisition.

"Hurley, just go and get him, ok?" Dean murmured weakly.

Hurley perused Dean's demeanor for a moment before he turned back to Jack and finally seemed to notice the agitation on his face. He nodded quickly at the two of them before he turned and scurried out of the caves and left all of them to silently comes to grips with what they all knew had to be done to save Boone. "Thanks for sending him out," Jack spoke up before he turned and headed back over to his patient.

"No problem, man," Dean told him as he hobbled behind him in his shadow. "Jack, are you sure this is the only answer?"

"I am," Jack informed him as he turned around and graced Dean and Sun with a remorseful look. "All of that blood that we just drained out of you isn't even circulating in his body, but going straight to his leg and just staying there. If I don't stop it soon, I won't be able to save him."

Sun's eyes widened as she glanced up at Dean in horror before she turned to Jack, her lower lip trembling. "You don't mean that…"

"The leg is dead," Jack reasoned with her as simply as he could.

"How are you gonna do it?" Dean asked, his face more pale than it should have been by just being depleted of blood. He had met several people in his life, some of them older hunters that had lost a limb or two. He knew that it wasn't a tea party, but to have to lose a limb with no painkillers or proper recovery time? That had to suck. "You can't use the ax. That would take too long and the pain would probably kill him."

"The cargo container door," Jack told him with a final nod of his head.

* * *

"How are you doing?" Sun asked as she knelt down in front of Dean and slowly waved her hand in front of his face.

"Don't worry about me, worry about Boone," Dean lazily told her as he glanced up at her with half-lidded eyes.

"Dean, you have lost a lot of blood," Sun reminded him before she held up a piece of fruit for him to see and offered it to him, her eyes wide with expectation.

"No, I'm fine," Dean reassured her as the smell from the fruit immediately turned his already weak stomach. "If I eat that now, I'm just gonna end up throwing it up and then we'll have to add dehydrated into the anemic pile," he told her as Boone let out a few hacking groans. "I think he needs water."

Sun nodded at Dean ruefully before she turned back around and retrieved a water bottle and crouched down next to Boone so she could pour a small amount into his open mouth. Dean watched the exchange and was glad to see that he seemed to take the water well enough before his face screwed up and he let out a deep wet cough. Dean pulled his over-shirt out from behind him and tossed it to Sun as she leaned over Boone and tried to soak up the liquid that he coughed back up as best as she could while Boone continued to hack and wheeze. She looked down at the plaid cloth and let out a horrified gasp as she noticed the deep red that had soaked through. "Jack," she waited until Jack turned around before she motioned down to the shirt, her eyes wide with fear.

Jack's face paled at the sight of the blood and turned back to Dean and Michael as he shook his head in denial. "Let's go," he told Michael as Dean bit back a curse. Boon's lungs had officially begun to fill with blood.

"Jack…" Sun spoke as she tried to capture his attention.

"On three..." Jack told Michael as he effectively ignored Sun.

"Jack…" she tried again.

"One…two…three..."

"Jack stop, maybe you should listen to her," Dean tried. He watched closely as the irritation on Sun's face quickly morphed into infuriation before she stomped straight up to Jack and blocked his path. "Why are you doing this? He's bleeding inside. You're not helping him! You can't save him, Jack. You just can't!"

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" Jack snapped at her as he moved around her back to Boone. "Okay, one…two…three…go."

Michael nodded over at Jack as they both gently lifted Boone slightly off the ground and transported him to the cargo door Michael and Jack had brought from the beach. Michael tenderly placed Boone's dead leg in the path of the door before Jack leaned down and tied a crude tourniquet just above his knee.

He stood up to appraise his work and regarded Michael grimly. "You don't need to see this," he muttered as Michael glanced back down at what was about to happen and nodded in agreement with a small gulp.

"If you need me, shout," Michael told him as Dean let out a sarcastic snort.

"I'm pretty sure the only shout you're about to hear'll be from Boone," Dean muttered as he hobbled up to the other side of Boone and stared Jack down. "Sun's right, you don't have to do this. Even if this works, you still have to deal with all of his internal injuries."

"Are you asking me to stop trying?" Jack asked, his calm slowly stripped away as his teeth clenched so tightly that his actions and words seethed with anger.

"No, not at all," Dean assured him as held up his hands in surrender. "All I'm asking is that you not make the suffering of a dying man worse for nothing."

Jack shook his head in disbelief before he grabbed the door handle and flexed his hands around it a few times so that his grip was perfect. Dean crouched down next to Boone and grabbed his hand for him to squeeze for when the metal sliced through his skin, muscle and bone as Jack let out several deep breaths, each louder than the last. He stilled for a moment and sucked in a final breath and steadied himself.

"Wait," Boone interrupted him before he could bring the cargo door down. "Just wait."

Jack let out the breath he had been holding and turned to face Boone head on. "Boone, I have to. If I don't..." he began.

"Dean's right, Jack. I'm all messed up inside," Boone informed him. "You know it."

"This is our best chance," Jack argued with him.

"There's no chance," Boone told him. "Really. I mean, look where we are."

Jack glanced up at Dean with unshed tears in his eyes before he shook his head down at Boone. "I'm not going to let you give up."

"I know you made a promise. I'm letting you off the hook," Boone told him. "Let me go, Jack."

"It's what he wants, Jack," Dean agreed with him grimly.

"I'm sorry," Jack told him after a meaningful pause.

"Don't be," Boone smiled up at him before he motioned Dean over. Dean shuffled to his side and raised his eyebrows in question at him. "Can you tell Shannon that…" he trailed off and swallowed hard before he looked back up at Dean. "Tell Shannon…tell her that…"

He stilled so suddenly that it took Dean several seconds before he realized that he was finally gone. Boone Carlyle was dead.

* * *

"You have got to be the stupidest person that I've ever met. Are you even aware of what happens to a car when the oil and the gasoline have been drained from it?" Sawyer asked in a huff as Dean shuffled back to his tent. He glanced over his shoulder at his friend in tired amusement before he turned back around and continued to follow the familiar path from the treeline. "It stops working, is what happens," Sawyer informed him as Dean let out a snort and rubbed at the massive bruise marring his arm from where the sea urchin needle had been shoved into his vein for the better part of the day.

"Back home, I happen to be the proud owner of a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala," Dean informed him. "Even without oil or gasoline, that mother is pretty. Just like her owner."

"You coulda died," Sawyer ground out. "Jack took way too much blood from you. Freckles gave him an ear lashing that they were probably able to hear all the way back in good ol' Australia."

Dean rolled his eyes again before his attention fell on a group of people huddled around Claire and a bundle in her arms. "Claire had her baby?" Sawyer followed Dean's gaze to the crowd and allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his features as he nodded down at his friend. "Little boy. Mama Cub said that she and the little man are doing well."

Dean smiled weakly as he studied the group of people around Claire that were congratulating her on the birth of her son. "Don't see Locke over there," he muttered to Sawyer before he scanned their surroundings and came up empty on his search. "Has anyone seen or heard from him?" He asked.

"I haven't seen him around and I've been on the beach all day," Sawyer told him with a shrug. "He could just be upset about everything that went down."

"Yeah, guilt tends to do that to a person," Dean agreed with him.

"Who said anything about guilt?" Sawyer asked. "I thought it was all just an accident, what would Locke have to feel guilty about?"

"Before he died, Boone mentioned something about a hatch and that Locke didn't want anyone to know about it. Maybe I'm overreacting or I'm more tired than I think, but that could have been reason enough for Locke to have killed Boone."

"Whoa whoa, whoa…back up…" Sawyer told him as he stepped into his path. "How'd you get to 'killed' so quickly? Boone fell from a cliff."

"Or that's what Locke told us before he disappeared," Dean told him wearily. He glanced past Sawyer down the beach as Shannon and Sayid walked towards them, amused smiles lighting up both of their faces as they spoke back and forth to each other. He watched as Jack approached them and the smile immediately slipped from Shannon's features before Jack led her to the path that would take them back to the caves.

"Jack and I both agree that the extent and nature of Boone's injuries wouldn't have been caused if he had only fallen from a cliff," Dean told Sawyer as he felt the anger inside of him flash through his eyes. "Something else happened to Boone and only Locke knows. I intend to find him and get the truth before somebody else decides to even the score."

**Author's Note: I am finally done with this chapter. Actually, I've been done with this chapter for about a week and a half, but my "fact-checker" read through it and got to about page nine before she grimaced and told me how robotic it all sounded. Remedy? Rewrite! Here is the finished product of what seemed like a painful endeavor. I'd like to give big thanks to elmoisemo6, Endgame65, Guest, redladybug12, The Sun Will Shine Clear, unchartedfate, Arlena48151612342, Kid'sDarkWolf, dgj212, TrappedinWonderland, Guest and Caliweiser for your kind words regarding the last chapter. I hope this one lives up!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

"Just explain to me how in the hell Shannon managed to get into the gun case in the first place," Dean marveled to Kate. She opened her mouth to answer and then shut it with a grimace before he scoffed and spun away from her to walk back to his tent. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jack is supposed to have that key on lockdown, right?" He asked over his shoulder.

"He can't help it if she took it while he was asleep," Kate defended Jack as she followed closely behind Dean.

Dean stopped dead in his tracks so quickly that Kate ran straight into him and quickly grabbed the back of Dean's shirt in order to keep herself upright. Dean spun around to help her get her feet underneath her again before he turned narrowed eyes on her as he processed her last statement in his head. "You're actually trying to tell me that Shannon managed to sneak up on Jack while he was asleep and then stole the key to the gun case?" he asked. At her uncertain nod, Dean rolled his eyes around a skeptical snort. "Either she's a stealthy little son of a bitch or Jack must have been having the mother of all dreams."

"Well, if you wanna split hairs, he was probably more unconscious than asleep," Kate admitted lowly. Dean's eyebrows shot up close to his hairline at the same moment that Kate's eyes snapped shut as she pulled in a deep breath. She allowed herself another moment to compose herself before she reopened her eyes and stared up at Dean. "I kinda drugged him," she admitted sheepishly.

Dean's eyebrows lowered as he blinked several times, unsure if he had actually heard her correctly. "Look, he was exhausted and he was obsessing about Locke and his involvement with Boone's death," Kate told him. "There was no way he was gonna slow down before he ran himself into the ground. How else was I supposed to get him to take a break?"

Dean grinned down at her impressively as he conceded Kate's point and couldn't help but pat her reassuringly on the shoulder. "Kate, you know as well as I do that Jack's gonna do whatever the hell Jack wants to do," he reminded her before he shook his head incredulously and turned back around to enter his tent. "Ok, so…you put the full on Enter Sandman on Jack and Shannon took that opportunity to steal the key to the gun case and take one so she could shoot Locke?"

"That's pretty much it," Kate told him as she followed him into his tent and took a seat on one of his airline chairs as he rummaged around in a pile of items he had managed to procure for himself. "Sayid was able to tackle Shannon right as she took the shot. We all thought she'd gotten him for a moment."

"From what you told me, she did," Dean corrected her as he pulled out a large airline blanket and gave it a cursory glance before he draped it over his arm and turned back around to face Kate. She scrutinized the blanket on his arm for a moment before she looked up at him with an expression that conveyed her confusion from his statement. "Look Kate, even if you get lucky enough to only get grazed by a bullet, you still got shot. I'll definitely be voting Shannon into the hot seat the next time we need a shooter for one of the guns, that's for sure."

He lifted his eyebrows one last time at Kate before he sidestepped around her and ducked out of his tent into the night air. He skimmed over the people still out on the beach before his eyes landed on Shannon near one of the large fires. She sat on one of the logs they had encircled around the signal fires and faced away from him, her shoulders hunched down as if she seemed like all she wanted was to close in on herself. Even though he couldn't see the expression on her face, he knew she was grieving for Boone and for the first time since he had seen the devastation on his brother's face after Jessica's death, he felt sympathy go out to another person.

"Hey Clint Eastwood, you feeling any better?" Dean asked as he tenderly draped a blanket over her shoulders. He walked around her hunched form and took a seat next to her so he could study her face as she continued to stare into the fire, effectively ignoring him. "I just want you to know that it's alright for you to be upset. You don't need to put on a brave front for anybody."

She breathed in deeply and exhaled before she shook her head softly as tears glistened at the corners of her eyes. "I almost killed somebody today."

"You should be glad that you didn't," Dean truthfully confided to her. He continued to watch for any form of emotion that she might have allowed to sneak across her features, even for a tiny moment, in vain as she continued to stare at the fire in front of them. Movement behind her grabbed his attention as he discreetly peered over her shoulder and finally noticed Sayid several yards behind them and in deep contemplation as he studied the interaction between the two of them. _You don't need to worry about me, Sayid. I'm not trying to take your girl_, Dean thought with a wry smile before he returned his full attention back to Shannon. "Do me a favor and try not to stay mad at Sayid for too long, alright? Whether you wanna believe it or not, he did you a big favor today."

He waited for any kind of response or reaction from her for a few moments before he threw in the towel and moved to stand back up. She reached over and brushed her fingers very lightly across his arm and kept it held out awkwardly as he grasped her hand in his tenderly, and knelt down at her side. She swallowed thickly before she turned a watery gaze over to him and nodded her head a few times in gratitude. "Thank you…for trying so hard to save Boone."

Dean wanted to play off her gratitude as nothing important, but he had a clear idea that being gracious was not something that she was used to. "That's not something you need to thank me for…ever," Dean softly informed her before he patted her hand and stood back up. He bestowed a tender smile on her one last time before he stepped around the log she was on and walked away from her towards Sayid.

"Kate filled me in earlier," Dean told Sayid as he sidled up next to him and nodded over at Shannon. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's more than a little overdue for someone to put some fear in Locke, but it's a good thing you got there when you did…that's for sure."

Sayid allowed an understanding smile to cross his features as he tucked a contemplative hand under his chin. "I'm quite surprised that you haven't had a more vested interest in everything that's been going on with Locke," he admitted to Dean.

"Yeah, well, I've hardly been in the right shape to run around this island and deal with John Locke and his philosophical crap, especially when I'd just end up wanting to beat it out of him," Dean seethed. "I just barely have my strength back as it is and it occurred to me that I'm much more concerned about getting that raft sent off than dealing with his roundabout crap."

"Locke has been too calm during this entire situation," Sayid told him wearily. "He speaks of regret, but his actions don't back it up."

Dean nodded his head before he let out a deep sigh and turned to face Sayid head on. "Look, I know you all feel bad that Boone died and all, but none of you were there, man. The guy didn't even get to finish his last thought to Shannon before he checked out."

"She's not taking his death well and to add to her grief, she's angry at me for stopping her revenge," Sayid grimly told him.

"You know, I don't pretend to be the most rational human being on the planet, but in my entire life, I've come to learn a few things. One of those lessons is that revenge is…" he began.

"Yes, I know, a dish best served cold," Sayid finished for him.

Dean let out a snort as his features twisted up in derision. "No, not at all. What the hell does that even mean?" He let out another snort before he squared his shoulders and schooled his features as seriously as he could. "Revenge is a lot like hot sauce. It tastes good the moment you eat it, but give it some time and all you're left with is a case of indigestion."

Sayid allowed a look of contemplation to cross his features as he mentally debated whether Dean was being serious or not before he realized with finality that he was more than serious. "How poetic," he mused.

"Oh yeah, I'm a regular beat on the bongos, black turtleneck, coffee house kinda guy," Dean commiserated. He glanced back over at Shannon and allowed himself to quickly peek back at Sayid and registered the raw pain on his features. "You know she'll be better eventually, right?" he asked. "I mean, this too shall come to pass."

"Also poetic," Sayid told him with a grin.

Dean let out a small bark of laughter as he snapped his fingers in front of him and clapped his hands together to distract himself. He leaned back on the balls of his feet and then leaned forward before he shook his head. "Ok, I give…when exactly did you wanna do this?" he asked.

"I'm unsure of what you're talking about," Sayid admitted.

"Sure you know what I'm talking about," Dean argued good-naturedly. "Locke is due for a good interrogation, and while I'm sure you probably managed to get in your questions, I'm also betting good money that you still don't know what the hell this hatch business is all about."

Sayid lowered the hand from underneath his chin as he shook his head at Dean's statement. "Locke informed me that each plane was equipped with two hatches. That must have been what Boone was referring to."

"Yeah, ok…and I'm the President of Celine Dion's fan club," Dean told him with a snort. "It's about time that bastard had to admit to some truths."

* * *

"How's your head?" Sayid asked as he and Dean entered the clearing and stopped in front of Locke. They both waited and watched as he studiously ignored the two of them and continued to rub a homemade salve into his wound.

When Locke was satisfied that his wound was properly treated he glanced up at Sayid first and then turned to Dean with a tight smile. "It'll heal," he told them simply.

Dean rolled his eyes at Locke's cavalier attitude and managed to shoot a look at Sayid that explained to him that he now understood what he had been talking about earlier. "There seems to be an awful lot of theatrics going down today, don't you think?"

Locke regarded Dean even more casually than before as he mused over Dean's assessment. "Shannon's just upset about her brother," he calmly explained to Dean.

"Oh yeah, she definitely sets the bar when it comes to emotion," Dean agreed with a grim smile. "You, however, seem to be handling yourself very well after Boone's death."

"I'm doing the best that I can despite appearances," Locke told him. He held Dean's gaze for several moments before he turned to Sayid. "By the way, Sayid. I know what it cost you to do what you did. Thank you."

"I did what I did because I sense you might be our best hope of surviving here…" Sayid began.

"Less of our best hope and more of an equal asset," Dean spoke up.

"…However," Sayid ground out as he gave Dean a measured look. "I don't forgive what you did. And I certainly don't trust you."

Locke seemed to accept Sayid's statement at the same moment that Dean clapped his hands together and brought the attention back to him. "Ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'd say it's about time that you tell us about this hatch that we've heard so much about."

"Hatch?" John began as he feigned confusion. "…Sayid, I already told you that..."

"Cut the crap, John," Dean interrupted him around a growl. "Either you tell us about the hatch right now or my Republican Guard friend and I force it out of you."

Locke snapped his mouth shut as he turned to Sayid for confirmation and only received a tight nod from him. He nodded sagely as he stood up from his seat and bestowed a tight smile on both men before he gestured to a path behind him. "What do you say we all go on a walk?"

* * *

Dean stared down at the metal object before them and opened his mouth to speak before he shut it again. He had been doing this for the entire ten minutes since Locke had led them to their current location and he still couldn't wrap his mind around what was in front of them. As far as he knew, this was a deserted island, but this hatch proved that somebody else had once inhabited it…somebody other than a psychotic booby trapping French chick and several plane crash survivors. Somebody advanced.

"So basically…you and Boone just found this thing one day and you figured that the best course of action would be to spend the last several weeks digging it up in an effort to eventually get it opened? Is that what you're telling me?" he asked incredulously as he knelt down and brushed his fingers against the metal of the hatch.

"I don't have to defend myself to you, Dean," Locke informed him.

"Funny, I think that's the roll away speech of most convicted felons," Dean told him jadedly. "It's not even the fact that you and Boone kept this huge secret, by now I've gotten quite used to that particular action on this island. No, what really gets me is that this whole time you kept telling us that you were hunting and, therefore, sidelined everyone else, when you actually weren't."

"Is this the only reason that you came all the way out here? So that you could harass me about the decisions that I've made?" Locke asked Dean.

Dean chuckled modestly as he stood back up and stepped over the gap between the hatch and the forest floor so he could stand toe to toe with Locke. "Look, the moment you'd like me to segue into beating the shit outta you instead, just let me know."

"I don't understand what the problem is," Locke admitted to Dean with a shrug. "None of this has to do with Boone's death or anything that…"

"You lied to everyone!" Dean shouted as he jabbed his finger into Locke's chest.

"Tell me why you brought me out here or I'm gonna turn back around," they both heard from behind the treeline.

"Oh joy, now that Jack's here, maybe the two of you can start a keeping secrets club. Make sure you put in dibs for the secretary position, though, ok?" Dean told Locke with a condescending smile. Locke stared over at him, his expression unreadable before Dean finally scoffed audibly at him. "Since this is your big discovery, you might wanna go convince Jack not to leave quite yet."

Locke let out a deep sigh as he nodded his head and stepped out of the clearing with Dean hot on his heels. "Jack…he brought you out here because I asked him to," Locke calmly informed Jack. "I asked him not to tell you why. I wanted you to have an open mind."

Jack turned around a regarded Locke wearily before he noticed Dean right behind him and nodded over in greeting. "Open mind about what, exactly?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh dude, little do you know just how loaded that question is," Dean murmured with a grin as he gestured with his head back in the direction that he and Locke had appeared from. Jack followed the path he had indicated with his eyes as Locke stepped around Dean and took the lead back into the clearing. "I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Jack asked.

"Well, that all depends," Dean admitted. "You tend to like secrets, but I get the distinct feeling that you don't like it when they get kept from you," he acknowledged truthfully as he motioned for Jack to walk ahead of him. Jack fixed him with an incredulous glare before he shook it off and stepped around him to follow Locke.

Dean tried to keep his glee under control, but he really couldn't help himself. He was practically giddy as they all re-entered the clearing to view the hatch. He sidled up next to Jack to gauge the range of emotions that played across his features and couldn't help but realize that it was probably identical to the expression he had worn. He still wasn't all that adjusted to the idea of there being a random hatch in the middle of a deserted island. He was far from a logical person, especially with the upbringing that he had had, but he still liked facts. He liked to know the why of everything. With this situation, his mind couldn't conjure a "why" to save him a headache.

Jack stepped away from Dean and stopped at the very edge of the upturned dirt and stared down at the hatch in confused awe. "My god, what is this thing?" he finally asked.

"Exactly," Locke told him with a triumphant smile. "I guess it's time we talked about this."

"Time we talked about this?" Jack asked incredulously. He jumped across the gap that separated the hatch from the jungle floor and landed squarely on it with a loud thud. He squatted down and brushed his fingertips against the metal before he shook his head around a weary chuckle. "How long, exactly, have you known about this?"

Locke shrugged off Jack's question nonchalantly as he dug a stick into the ground beneath him. "Three weeks, give or take."

"Three weeks," Jack repeated. "You've been out here for three weeks digging this thing up and you never told me about it?"

"A little do as I say, not as I do, Jack?" Dean spoke up.

"Dean's right. No disrespect, Jack, but since when do I report to you?" Locke questioned him.

"No disrespect, John, but you lied," Jack reiterated.

"You know, not that I'm ready to jump on Team Locke or anything, but maybe he's just taking his cues from you," Dean pointed out. "I mean, we can start with the pilot and end with the case of guns if you want to take inventory of the secrets that are probably still lingering around here."

Jack gave Dean a half smile before he shook his head and turned to face Locke's smug expression. "I figure you used your best discretion in some of those cases," Locke pointed out. "Well, I used mine."

Jack smiled ironically as he glanced back down at the hatch and seemed to give up his argument as he tapped his fingers against the metal. "So, how do we open it?"

"What?" Sayid spoke up from his crouched position next to Dean. "You want to open it?"

"Yeah."

"That's the worst idea that I've heard of since 'I'm gonna go into the magical forest to find my brother and pick up a dirty doll attached to a rigged arrow.'" Dean snarked.

"He's right," Sayid mused as he stood up and pointed down at the hatch. "I appreciate the effort that must have gone into digging the hatch up, but we should rebury it. Jack, I brought you here to talk Locke out of this insanity."

"There could be anything inside of there," Dean agreed. "The remainder of the Bubonic Plague down to a Backstreet Boys reunion concert."

"No," Jack disagreed as he stood up and shook his head vehemently. "Best case scenario there's supplies…worst case, we use it as a shelter."

"Oh geez, famous last words," Dean muttered.

"Dean's scenarios withstanding, I can think of much worse cases than that," Sayid argued. "You notice anything about this hatch?" He waited as all three of them turned their attention back to the hatch and studied it for a few moments before they glanced back up at him in unison. "There's no handle. Could the reason for that be more obvious?! Maybe it was never meant to be opened from the outside."

"We are in a situation that's bad enough," Jack calmly reminded them. "What if whatever's in there makes the situation better?"

"…And if it makes it worse?" Sayid asked.

"Alright…that's enough," Dean announced, effectively interrupting their debate as he brushed the dust off his jeans and held up his hands in surrender. "Personally, I'm voting against opening something that could be the gateway to hell for all we know, but it's not like it matters anyways." He let out a sardonic chuckle before he turned an incredulous gaze to Jack and then Locke. "If you consider both of your tracks records, you're just gonna do what you want anyways. Now, maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather help Michael finish the raft so that we can get off of this damn island than sit around a recreate one of the Presidential Debates."

Jack glanced back down at the hatch one last time before he looked back at Dean and nodded his head in agreement. "He's right. It's more important that we get that raft set off than trying to determine what might or might not be inside this thing."

"But, you just said…" Locke began.

"Yeah, well…I changed my mind," Jack snapped at him before he stood up fully and jumped back across the gap so he was right next to Locke. "Now, you're more than welcome to stay here and continue to try and open this thing by yourself, or you can help us with the raft and then get our help in turn to open this thing."

"Not mine," Dean spoke up before he scoffed at the agitated look that Jack shot him. "No offense, man, but I don't want you to come and help us with raft only for you to expect that I'll play Robin to your Batman with this hatch crap. I already told you where I stand with it."

"I won't assist you either," Sayid spoke up.

Jack threw up his hands as he brushed past Dean and marched back up the path towards the beach as Dean let out an amused chuckle. "Ok, so, I guess we're stomping back to the beach now."

Sayid stepped forward after Jack and shot Dean a somnolent look as he walked past him before he picked his pace up to a jog. Dean rolled his eyes around a smile as he remained where he was with Locke behind him, the natural noises of the jungle their only companion. "You got something you wanna say, just say it."

Locke walked up to Dean and stood shoulder to shoulder with him as they both watched Sayid follow after Jack until he disappeared into the forest. "We were meant to open this hatch."

"Gut reaction or did God tell you that?" Dean asked.

"The island showed me the hatch…showed Boone and me the hatch and…" Locke began desperately.

"And now Boone's dead," Dean finished for him as he turned and faced him directly. "Did the island show you about that happening?"

Locke opened his mouth to answer before he shut it again and nodded his head at Dean's perceptions. He watched him as he turned away from him dejectedly and walked past him after Sayid and Jack. Dean glanced over his shoulder, one last time, at the hatch in the middle of the clearing before he languidly stepped forward and walked the same path until he had caught up enough to all three men to bring up the rear on the way back to the beach.

This was all such a horrible mess. They were officially divided down the middle. Sure, he was thankful that Sayid was emphatically with him in regards to opening the hatch, but he knew for a fact that it didn't seem like a great idea for Locke and Jack to agree on anything this important. Scratch that, it was the worst situation to accompany a plane crash that he could think of.

"Jack! Jack!?"

Dean's attention was pulled from his thoughts as he stopped next to Locke and craned his head in time to hear Kate yell for Jack again. "Sweet Jesus, we were only gone for an hour. What the hell could have happened in that time?"

"Yeah, over here!" Jack yelled back as Kate appeared before them, her eyes wide and frantic. She slowed to a stop in front of them and sucked in a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Kate? What's going on?" Dean asked.

"It's Michael," she informed them. "Something's wrong." They all waited for her to dispense more information before she turned around and headed back towards the path she had appeared from. She stopped in her tracks and glanced behind her as she realized that nobody had followed after her. "Jack, he needs help!"

"You don't think somebody torched this raft, too, do you?" Dean asked as Jack shrugged at his question and briskly moved to follow after Kate.

Dean shared a tense look with Sayid before they both turned and jogged after Kate and Jack. He could hear Locke right behind them as they finally tore past the treeline and all ran to the area towards the raft.

Kate turned suddenly and led them all a few yards away to a tree where Michael had been laid out underneath its shade. He had a firm grip on his midsection as he moaned in agony and occasionally allowed his body to writhe. "Is anybody else sick?" Dean asked Kate as Jack knelt down next to Michael and felt his forehead with a cringe.

"No, it's just Michael," Kate confirmed.

"He's got a temperature," Jack announced up at Dean. "A bad one."

Dean sucked in a breath as he knelt down on Michael's other side and felt his face for himself. Not only was he burning up, but he his skin was clammy underneath his fingertips. "Jack, he's been in the sun day in and out working on the raft," Dean reminded him.

Jack nodded up at him as a worried expression covered his face. "Is he gonna be ok?" Kate meekly asked from behind Jack. Dean could see the aggravation cover Jack's face as Kate stepped closer to them so she could get a better look.

"Hey Kate, you wanna head down to the water and bring us back a cool washcloth?" Dean asked. Kate stood up straight and opened her mouth to argue as Dean fixed her with a look that spoke volumes otherwise. She nodded her head and hurried down to the tide as Jack shot him a grateful look before it disappeared around a frown.

"His being in the sun doesn't account for this stomach pains," Jack told him as he glanced back down at Michael. "Michael? What'd you eat today?"

"Uh…" Michael let out an agonizing breath before he recovered and looked back up at Jack. "Fruit…fish."

"Dehydrated, maybe?" Dean asked.

"I got in about…2 or 3 bottles today," Michael told him.

"Where'd you get your water from?" Jack asked.

"You know…the caves. Just like everybody else," Michael pointed out.

Kate returned and held the wet washcloth out to Dean who placed it under his chin on his neck while Jack continued to look him over. "Alright, listen, Michael," Jack began in his calm doctor voice. "Just take it easy, okay? You stay in the shade and try not to move too much, okay?"

Michel shook his head as he moved to get up while Dean and Jack pushed him back down to the ground. "No…we have to launch that raft tomorrow. We have to."

"Says who?" Dean asked as he looked up and saw the fear in Walt's eyes as he watched them push his father back down to the sand. "Michael, you need to calm down. You're scaring Walt."

Michael stopped struggling long enough to look past Dean and immediately saw the look on his son's face before he nodded his head and laid back down. "I mean it, we have to launch by tomorrow," Michael firmly told them.

"Don't worry, man. We'll get the raft ready for you to pilot it when you feel better tomorrow," Dean promised him as he stood back up and walked Jack and Jin away from Michael.

"Look, man, I know you don't understand me, but I need you to try," Dean directed Jin as he motioned over to Michael and mimed throwing up. "Michael. Sick."

Jin nodded his head as he spoke slowly back to Dean in Korean. Dean nodded back at Jin as he pointed to Jin. "You. Raft." Jin nodded again as he pointed to himself and nodded over at the raft. "Raft."

"Yes, good. Can you. Work on it?" Dean asked as he mimed a pickax motion. Jin watched for a moment before recognition dawned in his eyes and he nodded his head with a smile. Dean smiled back as he clapped Jin on the shoulder good-naturedly.

"I'll be back to help you in a moment," Dean told him as he walked with Jack away from the clearing towards the cooler filled with empty water bottles.

"What do we think is going on with Michael?" Dean asked curiously.

"Could it be heatstroke?" Locke suggested.

"No, he would have felt that coming on before now," Jack told them as he shook his head.

"Bad fruit maybe? Raw fish?" Dean asked.

"Michael and Jin are on the same diet," Jack shot them down.

"Well, Jin's fine," Locke commented.

"More than fine. Thanks to him we may have that sucker done by tomorrow," Dean informed them.

Jack stopped and knelt down next to the cooler of bottles as he began to pull them out and study the clear plastic as carefully as he could. "Dude, you don't think that someone did this, do you?" Dean asked.

"Whatever made Michael sick was metabolized fast," he told him as he continued to inspect the bottles. "It hit him quick and it hit him hard."

"That's what she said," Dean coughed as Jack shook his head around a chuckle while he continued to inspect bottles. Locke grinned wryly before his features fell in recognition. "Wait, so…you think it was the water?" Locke asked as he finally jumped on board with where Dean and Jack had vacated.

Jack glanced at one last bottle as he stood back up, an incredulous look on his face as he turned back to Locke and Dean. "No, I don't think it was the water," he told them as he held the bottom of the bottle up for the both of them to see the white deposits that had clung to the inside of the plastic. "I think it was something in the water."

Dean's fingers grazed the outside of the bottle before he looked up at Jack with narrowed eyes. "Do you even have anything in your stash that could cause a fever and sudden stomach cramps?"

"Not that I know of," Jack admitted. "Besides, anything medicinal wouldn't have caused such an extreme fever."

"Then what the hell is in that bottle?" Dean asked. He shook his head around a sigh as he rubbed at his temples distractedly. "Ok, we need to figure this out before somebody else gets sick. I'm gonna tap some people to help Jin with the raft and then we need to ask around. Sound good?"

"I'm on board," Locke commented with a nod as Jack nodded at him as well.

* * *

"Hey man, you feeling any better?" Dean asked as he knelt down next to Michael as Jack brought over a fresh bottle of water.

"The cramps are quieting down," Michael admitted with a wry smile. "As long as I don't move…or…or breath."

Dean chuckled at his casual attitude while Jack pulled the washcloth from Michael's forehead and soaked it with fresh water. He handed Dean the wet cloth and nodded as Dean draped it back over Michael's forehead.

Michael bestowed Dean with a smile of gratitude as his attention drifted behind them to Locke and Hurley as they spoke near the raft. "Did you guys kiss and make up with Locke?"

Jack gave him a weary look while Dean scrunched up his face at the question. "Good, can't have you two turning vegan philosopher on me."

Dean barked out a laugh as Michael reached over and grabbed his water bottle and began to unscrew the top. Jack's eyes widened as he reached forward and stopped Michael's movements. "No, Michael."

"What?"

Jack glanced up at Dean cautiously before he handed the water bottle in his hands over to Michael. "Drink from this one instead."

Michael sat up completely and ignored the washcloth as it tumbled down to his chest while he glanced back and forth between Dean and Jack suspiciously. "Somebody did this to me?"

"We don't know," Dean told him reassuringly as he shot a warning glance at Jack.

"He's right, we don't know, Michael," Jack told him. "In fact, I'm not sure of anything yet."

Michael digested both of their words before his features hardened. "Sawyer."

"No, there's no way," Dean denied as he shook his head vehemently.

"Sure there is," Michael argued. "The man's spent his entire time on this island scamming dead bodies out of their possessions and using them to his advantage." He shook his head incredulously as he glanced back up at Jack. "He's got a thing for Kate and she was asking about getting a seat. What better way to win some points than to…"

"Screw this," Dean muttered as he stood up and shook his head. "I'm not gonna sit here and listen as you put him in the Conservatory with the Candlestick." He allowed one last sound of disbelief through his mouth at Michael before he turned and stomped over to Locke and Hurley, more determined, now, to figure out who would want to poison Michael.

"What I want to know is who was responsible for bringing fresh water back to the people working on the raft?" Locke asked Hurley.

"A few people have done that," Hurley admitted. "For the most part I'm on bamboo duty, but yeah, sometimes I help refill the water."

"Are Michael and Jin still getting along well?" Dean asked.

"Well, they fight like a married couple that don't understand each other and are building a raft together…" Hurley laughed out.

Locke shook his head around a chuckle before he turned to Jack as he stopped to the side of them. "Did you tell him?" Locke asked.

"Oh, I didn't get to tell you the fantastic news yet," Dean answered for Jack. "We told him about our suspicions and Michael thinks Sawyer was responsible for this. Yeah, the guy that was too lazy to help with the raft and secured his spot by barter poisoned the main person responsible for piloting it," Dean sneered. "Bunch of fricken geniuses on this island."

"Maybe it's because of Kate," Hurley suggested with a shrug.

"What in the hell does Kate have to do with any of this?" Jack asked in exasperation.

"Well, I guess she wants on the raft and tried to talk Michael into giving her a spot. Said she had a ton of sailing experience to help them out," Hurley told them conspiratorially. "So, Sawyer went off on Michael because, you know, he gets to decide who goes since it's his raft. Hey, you don't think Kate did it, do you?"

Locke shook his head in confusion as Jack and Dean shared a look. "Why would Kate poison Michael?"

"Well, you know, the whole fugitive thing," Hurley told them with a grin.

Locke's face slacked as Jack let out a wince before he shook his head wryly. "Dude, this is why keeping secrets is not a good idea," Dean laughed out

"Wait, he didn't know?" Hurley asked as he faced Jack. Jack shook his head around a shrug while he tried to hide the smile on his face at Hurley's question. "Well how am I supposed to keep straight who knows what around here? I mean, Steve didn't even know about the polar bear."

"Who the hell is Steve?" Dean asked incredulously.

Hurley turned from Jack to fix Dean with a disappointed look as he clicked his tongue. "Dude, not cool."

"Steve was the guy that Ethan killed," Jack reminded him.

Dean nodded his head sheepishly before Locke spoke up over their conversation. "Does anybody know what Kate did?"

They all three turned to Jack who backed up under their scrutiny. "I don't know. Why don't you ask her?"

"And you didn't think the others should know about this, Jack?" Locke asked with a smug smile on his face.

"Don't carry that self-righteous attitude too far, John. You did still keep the hatch a secret from us," Dean defended Jack. "Wipe the smirk off your face too, Jack. We still have to find out who poisoned Michael."

"I'm pretty ok with the Sawyer theory," Jack admitted with a shrug.

"No you're not," Dean argued. "Because you know as well as I do that he didn't have anything to do with this."

* * *

"What exactly are you looking for?" Dean asked as he knelt down next to Jack and handed him pill bottle after pill bottle.

"I'm just trying to squash this knot in my stomach," Jack mumbled. "What you said, earlier, got me thinking that somebody could have gotten into these medications."

Dean nodded his head in understanding as Kate entered the caves and searched through the people that had lingered around before she finally saw the two of them. She headed towards their direction and stopped in front of them with a nod in greeting. "How's Michael?"

"He's going to be fine," Jack told her as he continued to check the names on each pill bottle.

She knelt down next to them and watched for a few moments as they continued to check each prescription before she cleared her throat. "Is somebody going to be taking his place on the raft?"

Dean glanced down at her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion while Jack let out a tired sigh. "I don't know."

"Because, you know, Dr. Arzt said if they leave tomorrow..." Kate began. Dean could see the muscle in Jack's jaw twitch as he let out another sigh.

"Kate, a word…" Dean told her as he stood and motioned to a corner in the caves.

"Not right now, Dean," she told him distractedly as she kept her attention on Jack.

Dean reached down and grabbed her arm as he hauled her up and pulled her to the corner, with her protesting the entire time. "Dean?! What the hell is your problem?!"

"I know you lost the bet we made when Claire was having her nightmares, but I never had any intention of not helping you when we got off this island," Dean hissed at her as she quieted down and her eyes went wide. "Why the hell didn't you believe me?"

"What are you talking about, Dean?" Kate asked very carefully.

"What I'm talking about is you suddenly realizing that if this raft actually gets rescue brought to this island, then a lot of people are gonna know that the fugitive on the flight is probably alive on the island," Dean explained. "Now, I'm only gonna ask you this once and I'd appreciate the truth. Did you poison Michael?"

Kate's eyes widened further as she drew in a deep breath. "What?"

"He isn't sick, Kate. Michael was poisoned. Someone did that to him," Dean informed her.

"Do you really think that I'm capable of that?" Kate choked out around a sob.

"Quit the damsel in distress act for two seconds and remember who you're talking to," Dean told her as he tightened his grip on her arm. "You are the same person that convinced Sawyer to shoot the Marshall, Kate. The same Marshall that would have kept you inside of a bamboo jail cell had he not been injured and died."

Kate pulled her arm out of Dean's grasp and backed away from him before she turned and ran out of the caves.

"What the hell did you say to her?" Jack asked as he stood back up and regarded Dean wearily.

"Nothing that you need to concern yourself with," Dean muttered distractedly. Kate wouldn't have been that devastated if she had some guilt to associate with poisoning Michael. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Sawyer did seem like the best bet regardless of the fact that he knew for a fact that Sawyer wasn't the person that had poisoned Michael.

Still, the world was littered with the history of paranoia and the effect it had on those that succumbed to it. He definitely had to find Sawyer.

* * *

"So, you and the Doc think that Michael was poisoned?" Sawyer asked as he rooted around in the pilfered items in his tent.

"Not think…know," Dean corrected him from the entrance of his tent.

"Then I'm not sure any of this'll help," Sawyer told him as he pulled a pink bottle out of his stash and held it up for Dean to see.

"Even if it's only symbolic that you care that he's sick, it'll help," Dean promised him as he marched out of his tent and walked behind Sawyer as he headed for Michael. Dean watched as Sawyer faltered for a moment before he threw the bottle down next to Michael and continued to walk. "Thought you might need that, boss. Wouldn't want our pilot out of commission before take-off."

"Oh geez, he really is the biggest idiot on the planet," Dean muttered as he ran a frustrated hand down his face. He glanced back up in time for Michael to pick up the bottle before he turned a menacing look on Sawyer.

"What? You feeling guilty?"

Sawyer stopped his tracks as he turned back around, the smile on his face disappeared as he shot a narrowed glance back at Michael. "What?"

"You're off the raft," Michael told Sawyer as he threw the bottle back over to Sawyer. Sawyer watched as the bottle bounced onto the sand at his feet before he stalked closer to Michael, rage in his eyes. "Come again?" Sawyer growled.

"You're off the raft!" Michael repeated slowly while he enunciated each word.

"We had a deal," Sawyer told him.

"Yeah, well, the deal ended the minute you decided to poison me," Michael seethed.

Sawyer's jaw twitched as he worked to restrain most of his anger. "I didn't have anything to do with that."

"I'm done with you," Michael told him before he turned his back on him.

"I don't think so," Sawyer seethed. "You ain't done with me by a damn sight. You said you needed four!"

"I've got four!" Michael shouted as he spun back around with a wince. "You've been stealing stuff off of dead bodies, keeping it for yourself, using it to buy favors. You're a liar and a criminal, and I'm not letting you near my boy!"

A dangerous smile appeared on Sawyer's face as he nodded his head in mock understanding. "That's how it is, huh? I'm a criminal?! I poisoned you because I'm a criminal!" He stepped forward towards Michael as Jin jumped in between him and pushed him back. "Get your damn hands off me, boy."

Sawyer snarled at Jin once more before he glanced around at the crowd that had gathered and finally saw Kate at the front of the pack, her eyes wide to clash with the lack of emotion on her face. "Hey, sweet-cheeks! I underestimated you, but I really had no idea how bad you wanted off this rock," he laughed.

Dean watched Kate's eyes grow as she glanced around at the other people in the group as Sawyer stalked up towards her. She grimaced as he stepped right in front of her, prepared for his wrath as he grabbed the backpack in her hands and spun around away from."Hey, give that back," she yelled as Sawyer shoved his hand into the backpack and dug around while Kate tried to reach around his broad frame.

"Alright Sawyer, I think you've proven your point," Dean yelled from the sidelines as Sawyer spun away from Kate again.

"I ain't proven a damn thing," Sawyer yelled back. "Why don't you tell them who the real criminal is, Freckles." Kate balled up her fist and pounded on his back as she continued to try to reach around him for her backpack.

"Give it back or I swear I'll…" Kate began.

"You'll what? Kill me too?" Sawyer snapped.

"Sawyer! That's enough," Dean snapped as Sawyer stopped struggling and turned the backpack upside down so that its contents spilled onto the sand in front of him. Kate stopped her struggling and stared down at the mess as Sawyer leaned down and picked up one item nestled at the top of the pile.

"Mmm-hmmm. Look. Look at this," Sawyer cooed around a smug grin.

"Sawyer, please," Kate pleaded.

Sawyer opened up the blue pamphlet in his hands and smiled down at the discovery. "Is Joanna aware that you stole her passport and removed her photo from it?" he asked Kate, fake wonder dripping from his voice. "You all remember Joanna, don't you? Huh? Did you take this on the day that she almost drowned? Is that it? So, you'd do just about anything to get on the raft, wouldn't you?" He shook his head in disgust as he handed the passport to Michael for him to see. "I'm guessing that she planned to get rescued and run off with her new identity before half the reporters in the world turned up on this damn island. Am I right? Hell, she might even poison the captain himself."

"Shut up!" Kate snapped as Sawyer's condescending smile slipped from his face and he sneered at the woman in front of him.

"She don't care about nothin' or nobody but herself."

"Alright, that's enough," Dean shouted as he came forward and cut Sawyer off with a warning look. He leaned down and stared Kate in the eyes as she gave him a weak smile around a shrug.

"No, that's not enough, Dean," Sawyer snapped. "Kate, you want to tell us why you need to run so bad? You want to tell us the truth?"

"Damnit Sawyer, I told you to shut up," Dean shouted over his shoulder before he turned back to Kate. "You don't have to do this. You have nothing to prove."

"They're all gonna think that I poisoned him," Kate whispered to him around the lump in her throat.

"Who gives a shit what they think?" Dean asked as Kate shook her head and stepped away from Dean, anguish clear on her face.

"Yes. I was on the plane…with the Marshal. Yes, I was wanted and caught and being transported back," she informed the group around her. "No matter what I say about what happened…about what I supposedly did…I'm going to jail." Kate stopped her diatribe and took a deep breath before she turned to face Michael. "…but I didn't poison you."

Michael fixed a disgusted look on Kate before he turned to Sawyer and handed him the passport back. He shook his head at Kate's distraught features one last time before he turned and limped back over to the raft.

Dean waited with Kate for a few more moments until all the murmuring people in the clearing turned and left before he turned back to Kate as silent tears fell down her cheeks. "I know I can be an asshole at times, but you need to turn off the crocodile tears for two seconds, Kate. You did this all to yourself."

"Dean, I promise you that I didn't poison him," she promised again as she shook her head.

"Kate, I know you didn't poison him," Dean assured her. "What I'm referring to is the fact that you couldn't keep your nose out of this raft crap and you got yourself discovered. Had you just listened to me when I told you that I'd help you, none of this would have happened. All you've managed to do, today, is turn on the suspicions in a group of paranoid people."

He shook his head at her but still managed to stop himself right next to her and squeeze her shoulder reassuringly before he headed away from the raft and back towards his tent. He stopped suddenly as he saw her closer to the water while she watched Jin continue to work on the raft with the other people that had been tapped to help out while Michael recovered.

"You seem to be incredibly deep in thought," Jack murmured as he stopped next to Dean and followed his gaze as they rested on Sun.

"I'm just working a few things out," Dean told him as he kept his attention on her.

"What would that be?" Jack asked as he turned back to Dean.

"You said there weren't any medications missing from your stash. Are you sure about that?" Dean inquired.

"There were none missing that I could find," Jack confirmed. "Trust me, due to our recent situation with Boone, I've tried to do my best to keep a thorough inventory of what's available."

"Jin and Michael are the only two people that have been consistently working on the raft together," Dean informed Jack. "Sure, every now and then the occasional person helps, I do what I can, but for the most part, it's been Jin and Michael day in and day out."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jack conceded. "What's your point?"

Dean nodded his head back over to Sun as she continued to stare out at her husband and Jack watched her with Dean for a moment before dawning registered on his face. "Michael drank from Jin's bottle."

"You said it yourself, man. There wasn't anything in your stash missing. Who here knows about herbs and plants and could have put a measured amount into water to stop her husband from leaving on a raft that could possibly kill him."

"You're a damn genius," Jack whispered as he smiled over at Dean. "How in the hell did you even put all of this together?"

"I knew Sawyer didn't have anything to do with all of this, but I also think that blaming Kate was jumping the gun. It suddenly occurred to me that when Michael got sick there was nobody on this island that would benefit from it. Jin on the other hand…" Dean admitted with a shrug.

Jack nodded his head impressively before he bumped Dean's arms with his own. "We should talk to Sun," he told him.

Dean shook his head at Jack. "Nah, you're on your own for this one, I plan on helping Jin and Michael finish up the raft." Jack conceded Dean's choice with a grin as Dean nodded before he walked away from him. He stopped quickly and turned back around to shoot Jack and cautious look. "Hey Jack? Try to go easy on her. She's about to be separated from her husband and she's probably terrified.

Jack nodded politely as Dean spun back around and approached the raft to help get it finished. He was determined, more than ever, to make sure this thing launched tomorrow.

**Author's Note: Ok, we are T-Minus one more chapter away until a John Winchester centric epilogue and then the next story "Swan Song Station" will be started and put up for your viewing pleasure. Trust me when I say that I every intention of ensuring that the next story gets updated sooner, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't my intention this entire time. The only reason this chapter is FINALLY being uploaded is because this is the first ENTIRE day off I have had in two months. Not that I'm complaining, staying busy means the economy has stayed away from my industry. I'd like to give an appreciative shout out to elmoisemo6, redladybug12, TrappedInWonderland, Sildet-ebrithil, Engame65, The Sun Will Shine Clear, JJxWillxProtectxYou, DavidB226Morris and hockeygirlxox. You guys make me so happy that I've had the privilege to write this story! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST.**

"_Well, this is just freakin' fabulous," Dean spat as he stepped out of the plane terminal into the Sydney airport. Sure, he was exhausted from the fifteen hour panic attack that had invaded his body and refused to leave, but more than that he was angry. Angry at his brother for the fact that he had failed to mention, ONCE, that the plane they had boarded to stop a crash happy demon would eventually land them in a foreign country. "How in the hell did you not realize that the plane we were boarding, the plane that you bought tickets for, was on its way to Australia?!"_

"_Excuse me that I was more concerned about the fact that there was a crazy demon on board that wanted to crash the plane," Sam hissed back at his brother. He checked his watch and let out a deep sigh. "Our return flight isn't scheduled until tomorrow morning."_

"_Well, that's just great," Dean laughed out bitterly. "Not only do I have to get on ANOTHER plane to fly back to my car, but we're stuck in England's prison until tomorrow morning." Dean stopped his ranting as he caught the impressed look on his brother's face and bristled. "What?"_

"_Nothing, I just didn't know you knew that about Australia," Sam admitted to him with a casual shrug._

"_Dude, I'm not an idiot," Dean informed him before he shook his head in frustration. "Ah man, we're in a foreign country. We're in a foreign country with no contacts, minimal weapons and my car's stuck in California." Dean stood up straight as realization exploded across his features. "Holy shit my car's stuck in California," he repeated as he sucked in a shallow breath and leaned most of his weight against the airport wall behind him. "I can't feel my legs…dude, I can't feel my legs," he told his brother as he sucked in another shallow breath._

"_Ok, Dean? Dean?" Sam began as he stepped closer to his brother and knelt down to look him in the eyes. "You have got to calm down before you get security called on us or something."_

"_What if they don't have hamburgers in Australia? What if all they have are kangaroo burgers? I can't eat a kangaroo, man," Dean whined as he ignored his brother's calm warnings._

"_Is everything alright here?" an accented voice sounded from behind Sam. He turned around and groaned internally as an airport security guard nodded over at Dean's huddled form. _

"_Everything's fine," Sam assured the security guard as he threw him his most innocent smile. "My brother has a tiny fear of flying and he managed to wait until we got off the plane before completely freaking out."_

"_Why would you people eat kangaroos?" Dean asked loudly before he sucked in another deep breath through his nose and leaned forward on his knees._

_Sam smiled sheepishly as the guard threw him a puzzled look and crossed his arms in agitation. "He's…uh…never been to Australia before," Sam explained. "Someone told him that instead of hamburgers, you can only get kangaroo burgers, here."_

_The guard narrowed his eyes at Sam before the corner of his lips twitched as he fought off an amused smile. "We have hamburgers, mate," the guard reassured Dean as he blanched at being called mate. The guard pointed down a wide corridor that many people from their own flight had disappeared down. "Plenty of airport restaurants where you can get something to eat that way."_

"_What about a hotel?" Sam asked while Dean pinched the bridge of his nose as he was reminded that he'd have to spend the night in this country. Away from his baby._

"_The information desk is also down that way. They can help you find a good place to stay while you're down under," the security guard told him with a smile. "Enjoy your stay."_

_Sam smiled sincerely at the security guard as he gave one last bemused look to Dean before he walked away chuckling. He turned back around and suppressed a frustrated sigh as he took in the sight of his brother resting all of his weight on his knees as he stared down at the ground._

"_Do you remember that last high school I went to before dad let me test for my GED?" Dean asked from his huddled position. He waited a few seconds and then stood up and gave Sam a pointed look when he didn't immediately reply to him. _

_Sam back up a few steps and held up his arms in surrender as he let out a somber chuckle. "Yeah, Dean…sure. What about it?"_

"_There was this kid there from Australia that used to eat Vegemite every day at lunch." He stopped and stared at Sam as Sam stared right back at him. He waited for Dean to finish his statement before he shook his head wryly._

"…_and?"_

"_And…have you ever smelled that stuff?" Dean asked in disgust. "Dude, that's a snack here...like M&Ms are in America!"_

_Sam allowed his brother's words to fully process before he let out an incredulous bark of laughter. He squared his shoulders as he held up a hand in front of him and closed his eyes to try to understand his brother's rationale. Nope, none of this shocked him. "Not that I'm admitting that I'm shocked by this, but have you stopped to realize that all of your concerns with Australia seem to be based on their food?"_

* * *

Dean stirred in his sleep and let out a groggy groan as he rolled over on his bedroll and was immediately met with a face full of sand. He kept his eyes closed tight and waited for several seconds to allow his body to welcome sleep again as several voices outside of his tent directly prevented that. "What the hell is going on?" he yelled out before he shoved his pillow over his ears.

Sawyer poked his head into Dean's tent and let out a deep chuckle before he threw a small rock at Dean's body. "Dude, not cool!" Dean snapped as he remained in his same position on his bedroll.

"Hey, you might wanna get out here and join the party, Sleeping Beauty," Sawyer spoke up, his voice full of mirth.

"Not even if the entire line of Victoria's Secret models crashed on our island and their clothes somehow burned up but left them unharmed." Sawyer stayed at his tent entrance long enough for Dean to let out another groan before he lowered his pillow and shot Sawyer a murderous look. "What in the hell could be so important to wake me up before the sun?"

"Well, if you must know, Walt caught the French chick as she strolled into camp on this very fine morning," Sawyer informed him.

Dean's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright and shot Sawyer with a severe look before he clutched at his head with a wince. "Man, you really are not a morning person, are you?" Sawyer laughed.

"Nobody's a morning person," Dean grumbled as he stood up slowly and grabbed his overshirt and pulled it on. "Do you know why she's here?"

"Who? Marie Antoinette?" Sawyer asked. "Nah, your guess is as good as mine." Dean shook his head unassumingly as he stepped around him and exited his tent in time to join the rest of their group as a wild looking woman strolled further into their camp, a rifle hanging casually from her shoulder.

Dean whistled impressively as he nudged Sawyer behind him. "That's a nice looking gun she has."

"Yeah, the better to shoot us with, my dear," Sawyer murmured as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Dean chuckled over at Sawyer as Michael stopped next to them and nodded in greeting to them both. "Hey, I heard Walt got quite the shock this morning," Dean mentioned. "Is he ok?"

"Oh, he's fine," Michael waved him off before he nodded over at the woman. "Who is that?"

"We're betting on Sayid's French chick," Sawyer told him as he kept his gaze glued on her. She continued to walk tentatively closer into camp and observed everybody around her as she did before Sayid jogged through the crowd of survivors.

"Everyone, please calm down," he yelled before he stopped in front of Danielle Rousseau and regarded her with a questioning look. "It's going to be alright."

"Says the guy that was captured by this woman," Dean muttered as he jabbed a thumb in Danielle's direction. She turned and fixed him with an icy glare before she settled her full attention onto Claire right as her son began to cry. They both stared at each other for a long moment before Sayid stepped up next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Danielle?"

She continued to stare down Claire even as Claire broke eye contact first and tried to hush her crying baby. "Danielle? What are you doing here?" She slowly turned from Claire and faced Sayid, her gaze teary as fear shone through her features. "The Others are coming."

"What does she mean that the Others are coming?" Sawyer snapped.

"Ethan's people, I'm guessing," Dean told him with a shrug. "I mean, we already knew there had to be other people on this island, but until this point, we've really only based that theory on our sole interactions with that douchebag."

"Yeah, and look what that got him," he smiled sardonically down at Dean. "Lead poisoning."

"Alright, calm down there, Bugsy Malone," Dean told him as Jack and Kate entered the clearing. They both shot Dean identical looks of astonishment before Jack marched towards Sayid and Danielle and began to speak quietly between the both of them.

"Hey, who's that?" Kate asked as she sidled up between Sawyer and Dean.

"Frenchie," Dean whispered down at her. "You know, the woman that built a ton of traps around this island so she could go all Robin Hood on innocent people's shoulders."

"Oh, quit your whining," Sawyer snorted as Dean turned and fixed him with a deadly glare. "It ain't like you lost your damn arm, just got laid up for a little bit."

Kate bit back a smile as she glanced up at Dean and patted him on his healed shoulder as he shook her off in annoyance. She smiled wide before she saw Claire with the baby that she had helped to deliver clutched to her chest. "Go ahead," Dean told her as he saw the wistful expression on her face. "You know you wanna go over there and check on the little guy."

Kate smiled wide at him and Sawyer before she jogged over to them. She nervously shook her head as Claire handed her son over for Kate to hold before she glanced back over at them and was awarded with thumbs up. "She really doesn't seem the maternal type, you know?"

"I think it's the whole criminal on the run thing," Sawyer agreed with a chuckle as Jack turned around and whistled to get Dean's attention. He nodded his head over at Danielle and Sayid as they walked out of the clearing before Jack turned around and followed behind them.

"Looks like you're being summoned," Sawyer snarked.

"Yeah, sure does," Dean agreed as he stayed rooted to his spot. "You want in on this?"

"Not even a little bit," Sawyer told him. "Besides, you're gonna tell me what goes down anyways."

* * *

Dean shot a dismal look at Jack as he let out a deep breath. "Do you know why they're coming here?" Jack shrugged his shoulders as he considered the importance of Dean's question and turned his attention to Danielle as she glanced back and forth between them.

"I do not know their reasons," she informed them. "I only know that they're coming."

"How do you know, exactly?" Sayid asked her gently.

"Sixteen years ago, our ship went aground on this Island," Danielle recounted with a faraway look on her face. "There were six of us…my team…six. At that time, I was already seven months pregnant. I delivered the infant myself. The baby and I were together for only one week when I saw black smoke…a pillar of black smoke five kilometers inland. That night they came, they came and took her…Alex. They took my baby."

Dean nodded his head as he followed along with the story Rousseau had just laid on them. She was definitely a lot stronger, emotionally, than he had originally given her credit for. After she had been forced to deliver her own child, it had been stolen from the people that were already on this island. "Is this sounding a little too familiar to anybody else?"

"Claire," Sayid agreed. "Danielle, what did they want with your child?"

"I do not know," Danielle choked back a sob before she straightened her shoulders and pushed back her emotions. "I have not seen her since they came and took her. And now, they're coming again…they're coming for all of you."

"Who's coming?"

Danielle turned towards Jack and shrewdly assessed him before she allowed her expression to convey the fear she had not only felt but personally experienced. "The Others. You have only three choices: run, hide, or die."

"Screw that," Dean hissed as he nodded across the beach over at Michael and Jin. "Raft. Now."

Michael nodded back at him as he pointed over at Jack and nodded over at the unfinished raft. "We're finishing that bitch today and getting those guys off of this island before these Others can touch any of us."

* * *

Dean, Jin, Michael and Sawyer had barely made any further progress on the raft before Walt had interrupted them and pointed out towards the forest. "Son of a bitch," Dean had murmured as a strong column of black smoke rose steadily over the treeline right before their eyes.

Since then, Dean and Sayid had gawked up at it as if it would go away simply by being stared at too hard. "I mean, it's really there," Dean whispered in awe.

"Just like Danielle said it would be," Sayid murmured dourly. Dean glanced over at him in slack- jawed agreement before he remembered himself and snapped his mouth shut. He nodded his head in agreement before he turned his attention down to Rousseau as she continued to clean her rifle. He couldn't help but notice the tight expression on her face that faded almost instantly as Sayid commended her.

"Be that as it may, I don't understand any of this at all," Dean commented as he shook his head. "Why would they light a fire and pretty much warn us that they're coming?"

"I never told you that I understood why they did it, only that it was the pattern that happened to me," Danielle told him as she kept her gaze on her rifle.

"How many of them are there?" Jack asked before she let out a frustrated breath.

"I told you all that I know."

"I don't buy that," Dean shook his head.

"Yes, there has to be more that you can tell us," Sayid agreed. "How did you know?"

Danielle shook her head as she stood back up and rested her rifle on her shoulder. "You have a bigger problem than needing more information from me. I can vanish into the jungle, but I'm just one person. You have forty people. Where will you hide them?"

"No, that's actually not a problem," Jack spoke up.

"Yes, it is," Dean argued. "We don't have any safe place to hide that many people." He turned and fixed Jack with a venomous look before Jack shook his head at him.

"If what she's saying is true," Jack began as he pointed over at Rousseau. "Well, then, I would think that the unknown trumps what we already know."

"Which is nothing," Dean reminded him. "We're assuming that a pillar of black smoke is supposed to be this big bad omen. Let's not forget that we're getting this secret Intel from Walter Kurtz…no offense." Danielle gave Dean a blank look at his reference as she tilted her head slightly and regarded him with narrowed eyes before Dean let out a chuckle and turned back to Jack. "You don't even know if what you're suggesting will put us in even more danger."

"What are you two even talking about?" Hurley asked as he glanced back and forth between Dean and Jack.

"We're talking about Jack wanting our entire group to take a little trip down the rabbit hole," Dean shrewdly informed him. "Come on, Jack. Don't you think it's about time that you and Locke extend an invitation to your little party?"

Jack stared Dean down in frustration before he nodded his head around a sigh. "Ok, fine, that's a great idea…" He turned and walked up the correct path a few steps before he glanced back over his shoulder and cocked his eyebrow as Danielle, Sayid, Hurley and Dean stayed put. "This'll be a lot easier to show you guys if you're all actually there to see it."

Dean rolled his eyes as he brushed past Jack and walked ahead of him back to the hatch. He could hear the group of people that kept pace behind him and couldn't help but wonder how Jack intended to explain a giant metal hatch in the middle of a deserted island. Especially when he had known about it for so long and Locke had known about it even longer.

"Dean," Jack spoke up. Dean jumped at the sudden intrusion to his thoughts and glanced over to his right to see Jack shoulder to shoulder with him. "I know you don't agree with this course of action…"

"Ugh, spare me, please Jack. I don't need to hear your sanctimonious bullshit in order for you to get me to better understand your decisions," Dean scoffed.

"It's not sanctimonious for me to want to make sure that the people in our group remain safe," Jack argued.

"It is if you refuse to listen to the concerns of the few people that disagree with you and then use the safety of the masses as your excuse," Dean told him as they rounded the familiar bend of trees and stopped at the site of the hatch as Locke stood right on top of it. "Why doesn't it shock me to find you here with your little discovery?" Dean asked as he heard the rest of their group round the same bend and stop behind them. "Here it is, everyone," Dean shouted as he held his arms out towards the hatch. "…the biggest island secret from several people that have become pros at keeping them," he continued to hold his hands out theatrically to display the hatch behind him.

Hurley stepped forward in awe as he stared down at the hatch before them. "Dude. Whoa."

Danielle walked briskly down the dug up path until she was right in front of the hatch and studied it in awe before she reached out and ran her hand, tentatively, over the metal. "What is this?"

Jack shared a surprised look with Dean at her question. "You're telling me that you don't know about this?" Dean asked incredulously.

Danielle glanced up at him in confusion before she turned her attention to Jack as he shrugged and nodded his head. "We were kinda hoping that you could tell us."

"I have never seen anything like it," she shook her head.

"Uh, question," Hurley interrupted them as his gaze remained on the hatch. "How do we know we can all, like, fit in there?"

"You don't even need to worry about that since nobody's going down there," Dean hissed as he faced Jack again.

"I was thinking about what Sayid said about there being no handle on the outside," Locke interrupted them as his attention remained fixed on his beloved discovery. "It must mean that there's another way in. Another entrance should mean space."

"Uh, hello ADHD, we are NOT having this discussion," Dean told him.

"Dean's right, this is all a mistake. The hatch, the smoke…we don't actually know anything about these Others," Sayid told them as Danielle climbed on top of the hatch and knelt down to inspect the window below her. "We're reacting with no information, no intelligence. This hatch might even be theirs. This black smoke on the horizon doesn't mean they're…"

"It means they're coming!" Danielle exclaimed as she turned and faced Sayid with a terrified expression.

"Yeah, we got that," Jack tried to placate her.

"You booby-trapped your shelter with explosives," Locke reminded Danielle. "You have any more?"

Jack's expression pinched at Locke's inquiry as Danielle stared up at him blankly. She digested his question carefully before she stood up with a resigned sigh. "Dynamite, by the Black Rock, in the dark territory."

"Well, that's three reasons to go right there," Hurley muttered.

"I'm sorry, Dark Territory?!" Dean chuckled sardonically. "We have just spent the last month and a half trying to survive on Puff the Magic Dragon's island and now we're willing to throw all of our common sense out the window because a column of black smoke showed up?"

"I don't care if you choose to believe me," Danielle bit out. "I didn't even have to come and warn your group, but I did."

"And we appreciate that," Jack once again tried to placate the situation. He glanced down at the hatch once more before he threw an apologetic look to Dean and Sayid.

"How long will it take us to get to this black rock?"

"Oh you have got to be freakin kidding me," Dean muttered.

"We would need to leave within the hour if you have any plans to make it back to your camp before sunset," she told him, effectively ignoring Dean's outburst. Jack nodded in understanding as Danielle stepped off of the hatch in time for all of them to see the smug smile that Locke threw in their direction before he turned and followed after her.

"Is it just me, or did Locke seem like he had an extra helping of canary just now?" Dean hissed as Sayid moved to stand right next to him.

"He got exactly what he wanted. What he allowed Boone to die for," Sayid agreed with him. "We now have to worry that by opening this hatch that we're walking straight into a trap."

* * *

_Dean glanced down at his ringing cell phone with a sneer as his brother's name lit up the display in front of him. He signaled the bartender for another drink as the ringing stopped and then started up almost immediately._

"_Ex-girlfriend?"_

_Dean glanced up from his drink and narrowed his eyes at the woman next to him as she bestowed him with a friendly smile. He pondered on her question for a moment before the ringing began again and she pointed down at his phone with a laugh._

"_That's just my pissy little brother," Dean slurred out before he collected himself and nodded over at her with a tight grin._

"_Must have wrecked your car for you to be this annoyed with him," she murmured thoughtfully. "Not that I would know personally…I'm an only child."_

_Dean nodded over at her disinterestedly before he picked up his drink and took a tentative sip. He savored the flavor for a moment before he allowed the liquid to warm its way down his throat with a contented sigh._

"_You're a braver person than me, going for the whiskey," she commented as she signaled down the bartender. "Can I get a tequila and tonic with a wedge of lemon?"_

_The bartender nodded down at her, wordlessly, before he turned and left to fix her drink. "That's such a pansy ass drink," Dean muttered as he took another sip of his._

"_I don't drink to thrill-seek my friend. I drink to savor the flavor."_

"_As do I," Dean chuckled as he raised his glass in a salute as the bartender placed her drink down in front of her. She smiled wide as she picked it up and held her glass up to his and clinked the glass before she took a satisfied drink._

"_DEAN!"_

_Dean turned and glanced across the bar as his brother appeared at the entrance, his face a mask of fury._

"_I take it that's the pissy little brother?"_

"_In the flesh," Dean muttered as he spun back around and leaned over his drink._

"_Dean! I have been calling you for a half hour," Sam growled as he sat down on the other side of his brother._

"_Yeah, and for that entire half hour, I have been ignoring you," Dean slurred as he took another sip of his drink before Sam reached forward and grabbed the glass out of his hand. "Hey!"_

"_Are you aware that most flights can deny a person entry if they're drunk enough to cause a disturbance?" Sam told him as he held the drink up to his nose and sniffed it with a grimace. "Geez, Dean. How many of these have you had?"_

"_Not enough to make me get back onto a flight all the way to Los Angeles," Dean argued as he unsuccessfully reached for his drink. "By the way, have I introduced you to…" he began as he turned around and pointed to the empty seat on the other side of him before his face fell in confusion._

"_Introduce me to who?" Sam asked as he glanced around his brother. He raised an eyebrow at the empty barstool on the other side of Dean as Dean continued to stare at it. "Geez, Dean, how drunk are you?"_

"_She was right there," Dean argued as he turned around in time to see his brother hand his drink back to the bartender. "She was drinking tequila and tonic."_

"_Sure, Dean. Maybe we'll see her on the plane home," Sam reasoned with him as he flagged down the bartender and ordered a cup of coffee for his brother._

* * *

"Look, I know you're all scared…and I know everybody has a lot of questions. All I can tell you right now is that we do have a plan," Jack informed the group of people that he had gathered on the beach. Dean let out an incredulous snort as Kate glanced up at him in confusion before Jack continued to speak. "We've got to go into the jungle to get some supplies. We'll be back in a few hours. In the meantime, do everything you can to help Michael get that raft on the water. After that, go to the caves…we'll be back as soon as we can. I promise."

"Do you have any idea about what's going on?" Kate asked as the group around them dispersed.

Dean glanced down at her languidly and immediately translated the anxiety on her face that she seemed to put so much effort into hiding. "You've heard about the hatch, right?"

Kate nodded her head up at him as he sucked in a deep breath and then blew it back out. "It's not a rumor. It's real," he watched her reaction and wasn't disappointed at the shocked gasp that left her mouth. "Yeah, Locke and Boone found it and were working on getting it opened before Boone died. Now, Jack's convinced that we can still do that and get everybody in there as a safety measure."

"But, you don't agree with him," Kate surmised.

"I don't…and neither does Sayid," Dean told her. "Not like it matters, because two people can hardly make a world of difference and you know as well as I do that Jack's gonna do…"

"…what Jack wants to do," she finished for him with a smile. "Yeah, I know."

"This little trip for supplies?" Dean reiterated as he motioned at the air around them. "Jack's hiking out in a half hour to some black rock where Rousseau found the dynamite she's been using in some of her booby traps. He thinks it's the best way to open this thing up."

Kate blanched as she stared up at Dean incredulously and he couldn't help but point acrimoniously at her expression. "Oh no, Kate…I'm being completely serious on this one."

"Are you going with him?" she asked.

Dean shot her a ridiculous look before he turned and walked back towards the raft to help get it finished. He turned back around before he left her line of sight and shrugged his shoulders. "Just in case you didn't know this about me, it's not in me to help out with something that I'm very much against. Besides, I really wouldn't want to deprive you of a spot on one of Jack's little Boy Scout trips."

* * *

Dean glanced down at the small slip of paper that he had balanced on his knee as he chewed on his pen cap in consternation. He re-read the words he'd written down and wished he could put down something more, something that would set his father's mind at ease, but he knew extremely well that details were a dangerous game in their business.

_Dad, _

_You need to contact Jerry Panowski to get all of the details about what's going on and why you're getting this message. Sam and I got split up, but I'm gonna find him. The Impala is still in Los Angeles. I'll see you soon. _

–_Dean_

"What'd you write?" Hurley asked as he stared down at the few words he had managed in dismay.

"Just a quick note to my dad to let him know that my brother and I are ok," Dean told him vaguely. "Why, what's wrong with what you wrote?"

"Nothing's wrong, exactly," Hurley told him with a deep sigh. "I just feel like it's not that personal to write out my last will and testament."

Dean shot Hurley an amused look as he tried to hold back his laughter and failed miserably. "Dude, we're gonna get off the island. Quit focusing on the empty part of the glass."

"I can't be too careful," Hurley told him. "Especially since I willingly volunteered to hike to a place called the Dark Territory. Funny thing is I'm more scared of the hike itself than that Stephen King dreamland."

Dean let out a deep laugh at Hurley's revelation before he patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. "I wouldn't worry too much about this Dark Territory. Jack's not gonna let anything happen to any member of our group, no matter how ominously named their location is." Hurley nodded over at him distractedly, but didn't seem as convinced as Dean would have liked. He stood up and held out his hand in front of him as Hurley turned and fixed him with a questioning look. "I'm sure what you've already written is good and if you don't feel like any more pearls of wisdom are coming to you at the moment you should just stop and let me take your message with mine to Charlie."

Hurley glanced down at his sheet one last time before he shook his head and folded up the piece of paper. He reached up to hand it to Dean before he stopped short. "Don't read it."

"I'm not gonna read it, man," Dean laughed.

"I mean it, man, don't read mine," Hurley reiterated as he handed the paper off to Dean, who could only chuckle. He made a big show of placing his folded paper on top of Hurley's before he walked off towards Charlie to get them both placed in the bottle.

"Dean, I thought you should know that we're heading out now," Jack announced as Dean waited in line behind Shannon. "I've given Sayid instructions to get everybody to the caves until we get back."

"Once we get the raft on the water, I'll help him get everyone organized and down there," Dean assured him. Jack nodded his head at Dean as he glanced down at the sand guiltily. Dean watched him for a moment before he blew out a surrendering sigh. "Look, I'm telling you good luck because I want all of you to come back alive, despite where you and I differ on our strategies."

"I understand," Jack nodded over at him.

"Keep an eye on Rousseau while you're all out there," Dean reminded him. "I understand why she's like how she is, but I'm still not sure if I trust her completely."

Jack nodded again before he turned and walked back to the group of people that had volunteered for this latest hike. Kate smiled sadly over at him and waved before she turned and followed Jack into the forest.

Dean watched them until they were out of sight before he turned back to the dwindling line of people that had written notes to be placed in a champagne bottle for the raft. In front of him, Shannon handed over her piece of paper and then turned and ran right into Dean. He could see the bags under her eyes clearly and how swollen her face was as he kept her from falling from the impact. "Are you ok?"

Shannon glanced up at him before she shrugged her shoulders around a humorless laugh. "Me? Oh, I'm just dandy. I just wrote a letter to the woman that cut me out of my father's will to inform her that her son died while we were stuck on this god-forsaken island," she told him. "As much as I hate that woman, nobody deserves what she's gonna go through when she reads my letter. And, it's all my fault since Boone never would have been on the plane if he hadn't come to Australia to rescue me."

Dean held his breath as Shannon finished her rant before her face crumpled and tears sprang from the corners of her eyes. "Oh shit, hey, it's gonna be ok," Dean commented as he wrapped an arm around her and let her cry onto his shirt.

"She ok, mate?" Charlie muttered from behind Shannon.

Dean gave him an incredulous look as he handed his slip of paper and Hurley's over to Charlie and watched as he placed both of them in the bottle before he turned and lead Shannon away from all the commotion. "Question, why do you have Vincent?" Dean asked as he glanced down at the dog connected to the leash in Shannon's hand.

"Walt gave him to me since they can't bring him on the raft. To protect me," Shannon told him plainly as she wiped away at the tears on her face. "I'm sorry about breaking down on you. You didn't deserve to have to deal with that."

"No worries," Dean reassured her. "But, I know Sayid would like nothing more than to be there for you."

"I don't need him," Shannon seethed before she stepped around him and stomped off with Vincent.

Dean watched her go in confusion as Sawyer stepped up on his side and watched as well. "She seems like a bit more drama than you'd be into," he commented.

"Ding and ding," Dean told him as they both turned and headed back to the raft. "Did they get your mast installed?"

"Sure did," Sawyer smiled. "Fits like a gem, too,"

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Dean chided him as he stepped up on the raft and wrapped his hands around the bamboo and pulled it a few times to ensure that it was locked down tightly. "Well damn. One thing I can say about you is that you know how to make a mast," he commented impressively.

"Just that one thing?" Sawyer asked with a smile as he held his hands out in front of himself.

"I'm sure there's more, but nothing positive," Dean joked as he ducked a fake punch from Sawyer. The smile slipped from his face as he watched Sayid explain all of the bells and whistles of the radar emitter he had managed to build for the raft as he realized that they were just about ready to take off. "Look, I'm not that big on chick flick moments…"

"Me neither, Superman," Sawyer told him.

"…be careful. I'm pretty sure you can handle yourself a lot better than the other three on this raft can, just watch out for them too, ok?" Dean requested.

Sawyer pursed his lips in contemplation before he nodded his head slowly. He held out his hand in front of him which Dean grabbed and shook a few times. "If you four end up getting us rescued from this island, I'm buying the first round of drinks back in civilization," Dean murmured.

"I'm holding you to that," Sawyer told him as he turned and stood back on the raft as Dean hopped down.

Dean stood and waited as Sayid installed his device onto the raft and then jumped down and stood with him as all four passengers got settled before he helped push the raft the rest of the way into the water.

"Jack requested that we get everyone settled at the caves until they get back," Sayid told Dean as Dean nodded over at him.

"You mean, until they get back and transport everyone into the recently opened hatch," Dean corrected him as he continued to watch the raft bob further and further away from them.

"Yes, that is his plan," Sayid agreed. Dean turned to face him and gave him a wry shrug as he walked back up to his tent. "I'll pack up my things and then help you get everyone else organized."

* * *

"We've got to get there before sundown," Sayid instructed a group of people. "Once you reach the caves, stay there. The rest of us will be right behind you."

Dean watched as they all departed before he shook his head in amazement and walked away from them with Sayid. "You forgot to mention to them that we'd very soon be relocated to an unexplainable hatch that two guys found in the middle of a deserted island."

"I do not intend to inform people of that possibility," Sayid told Dean. "Let Jack try to convince these people to turn around and walk backwards into a dark room."

"Sayid…Dean!" They both glanced over their shoulder and slowed to allow Charlie to catch up with them as he fell into step with a grim look on his face. "I need a gun."

"Yeah, and I need a good shot of whiskey," Dean laughed as Sayid rolled his eyes.

"Look, I know Jack gave them to you both. I want one right now. I have to protect Claire," Charlie argued.

"Protect Claire from what?" Dean laughed. "The only thing up her tree right now is the fact that her kid won't stop crying."

"Besides, Rousseau said the Others wouldn't be here until nightfall," Sayid told Charlie as he stopped at his tent and knelt down to pack some items.

"Rousseau is certifiable," Charlie argued. "What if they show up before then and…"

"The last time you handled a sidearm…" Sayid began.

"…I killed a murderer," Charlie told him. He paused at the tight expression on Dean and Sayid's faces. "I did us all a favor."

Dean let out a bark of laughter as he shook his head at Charlie's denial. "Dude, I'm glad you see it that way, but all you did was deprive us of the chance to interrogate Ethan. You jumped the gun, no pun intended. It's not safe to let an emotional person have a gun and you are more than emotional when it comes to Claire."

"Dean's right," Sayid agreed. "Let us handle the weapons."

"You two aren't here all the time," Charlie argued. "You can't protect Claire. Look, I need a gun!"

"If you really want to help Claire, get her packed…carry her child to the caves," Sayid snapped at him before he proceeded to pack his belongings. "That's what she needs."

Charlie shot Sayid a frosty look before he turned and stormed back up the way he had come. "I honestly can't believe that he just made that request," Dean muttered as he knelt down and helped Sayid pack up his things.

"He cares for Claire and does not wish harm to come to her," Sayid reasoned as he zipped up his pack and hoisted it over his shoulders like Dean had his.

"He's acting like a spoiled child, though," Dean told him. "Jack left us the guns because he's aware that we both know how to maintain and use them if need be. Then, Charlie comes in here and demands one? No please? No discussion? Sorry, but hell no."

Sayid walked out of his tent and held the flap open for Dean to follow him as they headed towards the path that would take them and the rest of the people on the beach to the caves. "I'll be honest, I do not know what Charlie thought he would accomplish by having a gun in his possession."

"He just wanted a security blanket is all," Dean waved him off. They walked in a comfortable silence past several other abandoned tents as Dean stared out over the beach that had been his residence for the past month and a half. He smiled as he caught sight of Shannon and nudged Sayid in the ribs to get his attention.

"Well, if you were looking for the right moment, I think that's it," Dean muttered. Sayid turned and cast a curious glance at his hiking partner from over his shoulder before Dean let out a snicker and pointed back out towards the beach. He glanced out where Dean had indicated and stopped dead in sympathy. They both watched as Shannon tried, unsuccessfully to roll an overpacked suitcase across the beach, each time it sank further into the sand a frustrated grunt sounded from her throat. That combined with the other bag she was trying to balance as Vincent ran the length of the leash attached to her wrist was enough to have Dean start a panic attack countdown in his head. Almost as if she could read his thoughts, Shannon immediately threw down the bag on her shoulders and slumped onto the sand as the worn zipper on her suitcase opened and spilled out the contents.

"I think I should help her."

Dean bestowed an incredulous look on Sayid as he reached forward and pushed him out of the hiking path and towards Shannon. Sayid stumbled slightly and managed to right himself before he turned and fixed Dean with an unamused look. "I thought I had spelled it out pretty clearly, but that was sorta the whole idea of pointing her out," he hissed over at him with a jovial smile.

Sayid shot another look at Shannon as she picked up her items that had fallen in the sand and sent an appreciate smile back to Dean before he turned and walked over to help her. It was unbelievable to him that in a situation like the one they were in, which so many different people comprising their survival party, that he was the one with the brightest burning light bulb. "Some people just have no clue," Dean chuckled to a guy in front of him as he continued to walk the path to the caves.

The guy in front of him chuckled lightly as he nodded his head, but made no indication of addressing or conversing with him. "I want to remind anyone that if they see anything on this path that looks foreign, toys or clothes to leave them alone. I got an arrow in the shoulder, but she's also used dynamite in her traps," Dean shouted out.

"You keep harping on that arrow and we're gonna have to send in the forms to make you a martyr," Shannon laughed from behind him. He spun around and continued to walk up the path backwards as he chuckled at Shannon's light hearted jab that clashed with her watery eyes and flushed cheeks.

"It wasn't so much the arrow that hurt, even though it did. Hurt like a bitch," Dean told her as she laughed. "It was the walking all the way back to camp as I practically bled out."

"More like not at all," Sayid joined in. "The arrow hit no major artery; you were in no danger of bleeding out."

Dean scoffed sarcastically as he spun back around before he glanced over his shoulder at Sayid and shook his head ruefully. "See if I ever give you any advice again."

"Sayid!" Dean turned back around and stopped in the middle of the path with Shannon and Sayid as he threw an inquisitive look at the latter. "Did we forget someone?"

Dean stepped forward furtively at the same moment that Charlie rushed up their path, ducking and dodging around the other people on their way to the caves. "Sayid!" he shouted again before he saw the three of them standing in the open and picked up speed as his face relayed his relief. "Sayid…thank God. Rousseau's on the beach. She needs you."

Sayid glanced back up the path that Charlie had come from and dropped Shannon's bag onto the ground next to him as Dean stepped up close to Charlie. "What's going on? Why's she on the beach when she's supposed to be leading Jack to that rock?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Charlie told them simply. He managed a passive shrug as his expression remained frantic.

"Wait just a second," Dean interjected as Sayid stepped away from Shannon and prepared to run back to the beach. "There's got to be a good reason for her to just…" He trailed off as they all heard the familiar sound of terrified screaming radiating from the beach and didn't waste another second before he and Sayid broke into equal sprints to reach whoever was in distress.

They both dodged the remaining people on the path in front of them and didn't even look back to see if Shannon or Charlie had followed after them before they broke through the brush from the jungle and arrived back on the beach. The screaming got louder the closer they got until they could finally see Sun as she hunkered down on the sand and knelt protectively over Claire's unconscious body.

"Jesus Christ," Dean muttered as he slowed to a stop and stooped down on the other side of Claire to check her pulse. Steady. Dean closed his eyes in relief before he opened them and fixed Sun with a vicious look. "What the hell happened?"

Sun blinked up at Dean in stunned shocked as the barely controlled rage in his voice cut through to her core before she timidly held up the rag she had applied to Claire's head. Dean grimaced at the amount of blood that had already soaked through as Sun motioned down to Claire. "Her head..."

Dean scrambled over to her head and carefully lifted it in his hands, vigilant that she may have also injured her neck. His fingertips brushed lightly over the back of her head and came back coated in enough blood for him to immediately be concerned. How in the hell had she gotten such a deep wound on that particular spot on her head? "She didn't get this just from doing something like walking into a tree," Dean announced grimly. "Somebody hit her…more than likely, on purpose."

"Locke…" Sayid growled as his fingers subconsciously probed against the raised skin on the back of his head. Dean had heard all about it from Sayid that somebody had attacked him the day that he had left the beach to go find his brother. _I guess Sayid found out who it was that bopped him. Still…_

"No," Dean denied as he shook his head fervently while he gently kept Claire's head elevated. "Locke was only too eager to go with Jack and the others to that rock place to get the dynamite." He nodded appreciatively at the offered rag that Sun held out for him and took it before he gingerly placed it back on her gash. Her eyes fluttered open, slightly, and she let out a painful moan as she slowly regained consciousness.

"Where…" Claire grimaced as she struggled to sit up and clutched her head in agony. She glanced up at Dean in confusion and lowered the hand from her head before her eyes widened in fear. "Where's my baby?"

"Dude, where's her son?" Dean asked over his shoulder.

"Claire had him with her when I left to find Sayid," Charlie told Dean conspiratorially. Dean let out a massive breath as he glanced over at the homemade basinet next to Claire's shelter as Charlie ran over to it to inspect it for himself. It didn't matter who checked, he knew from the activity and tension in their area that there should have been, at least, minimal baby noises, but there was nothing. It wasn't until he saw the panic that lit up Charlie's face that his hope died and his heart sank.

"Oh, my god," he groaned. Claire sat up fully and also saw the panic on Charlie's features as her face crumpled instantly. "Is he alright?" she asked, her tone filled with denial that anything could be wrong with her newborn son.

"Rousseau, was she alone?" Sayid asked Charlie as quietly as he could. Claire perked up at the mask of fury on his face and shook her head back and forth as tears filled her eyes.

"No, no…" Claire murmured as she stood up and stumbled over to the empty basinet, her face filled with dread. "Did she take my baby? Did she take my baby?!" She screamed louder with each moment as her panic turned to complete hysteria.

Dean stepped forward and placed one of his hands on each side of her arms as he knelt down and stared her in the face. "Ok, Claire…this is bad, but you have to calm down," he told her as she stared back at him and barely contained herself. "Do you know which way Rousseau went?"

"I don't know!" she screamed at him before she jerked out of his grasp and collapsed onto the sand amidst a torrent of tears. "She took my baby!" She yelled as sobs overtook her body.

"This is your fault!" Charlie yelled at Sayid before he stalked forward and punched him square in the face. "You brought her into the camp…if you had just given me a gun!" He reared back again and stepped forward to punch Sayid a second time as Dean rushed forward and grabbed his arm before he could swing it forward. Dean spun him around and held Charlie's arm behind his back in a submission hold as Sayid recovered enough to step towards them in anger before Dean shook his head for him to stay put.

"Dude, you might wanna save some of that anger for finding Claire's son rather than directing it unnecessarily," Dean hissed down at him. He waited until Charlie calmed down sufficiently before he let go of him with more force than was needed as Charlie had to scramble to catch his footing.

He sneered over at Dean before he shared that look with Sayid and let out a deep scoff. "Trying to settle your guilt onto me won't do any good in retrieving the child," Sayid seethed. "If all you want to do is assign blame, then be my guest. There is certainly plenty to go around."

"Or, we just forgo this round of Whose Fault is it Anyway and we leave right now," Dean suggested in aggravation. "Rousseau's got a good head start on us, but we can slim down that lead and get Baby Jane back in record time."

"Yeah…and how are we going to do that?!" Charlie inquired as he regained control of himself.

Dean glanced over his shoulder at the column of black smoke that had preceded Danielle's appearance and let out a deep sigh before he turned back to Sayid and raised his eyebrows at his knowing expression. "I think I know where she's going."

"Please, Charlie…I want my baby!" Claire pleaded in anguish. She struggled against Sun's grasp as Sun tried to hold her back and calm her down in vain.

"Shannon, would you mind…" Dean asked as he nudged his head over at Claire. Shannon nodded her head and immediately dropped her bag as she rushed towards the two women to help Sun calm Claire down.

"I think it's safe to assume that we're gonna need some backup on this one," Dean muttered as he glanced over at Charlie and indicated for him to follow as he and Sayid took off into the jungle.

"Wait, where are we going?" Charlie huffed from behind them as Dean and Sayid ignored his inquiries and continued to run. "Would you two, please, wait up?"

"We don't have the time to slow down, Charlie," Dean shouted behind him as he ducked a tree branch behind Sayid and continued down the path they were on. "If we wanna catch Rousseau we gotta light a fire under our asses."

"Where are we even going?" Charlie asked as he rounded a bend behind them. He slowed to stop as Dean and Sayid did and doubled over to try to regain his breath as Sayid knelt down on the ground and pulled out a key to unlock the Halliburton case that he and Dean had hidden.

"We're going to the black smoke," Dean told him simply as he watched Sayid.

"Are you bloody joking?!" Charlie interjected. "Why would Rousseau go to the black smoke?! Isn't that where the Others are supposed to be?!"

"You mean, isn't that where she, herself, warned us that the Others would be?" Dean questioned him. Charlie's face went slack with recognition as his eyes lit up in awe at Dean's statement.

"Are you telling me that she lied to us?" Charlie asked.

"I don't believe she did," Sayid spoke up as Dean and Charlie both turned to give him twin looks of disbelief. "The Others are precisely why she would go there. Rousseau told us she saw black smoke sixteen years ago when the Others showed up." He glanced up at them grimly as he opened the gun case and pulled one out to inspect. "They took something from her, and now she believes she has something that they want."

"What'd they take from her?" Charlie asked.

Sayid lowered the gun as he glanced over at Dean ironically. "Alex. Her newborn daughter."

Dean couldn't, at all, condone Rousseau's actions, but he definitely understood them. If somebody had taken a loved one from him, he knew he'd go to whatever lengths it to get them back. Hell, he'd probably even sell his soul to ensure that his brother or father were safe and sound. Charlie, however, only appeared to grow angrier at Sayid's revelation and shared a dour look with Dean before he shook his head unapologetically. "You think she wants to make a trade."

"I believe so…yes," Sayid confirmed.

"That's insane," Charlie exclaimed. "She's insane."

"Don't try to apply reason to her actions," Sayid chided him. "She's a mother who lost her child, just like Claire." He stood up and handed one of the guns to Dean and watched as he inspected it before he nodded over at him with a confident smile. Sayid nodded back before he pulled out another gun and apprehensively handed it over to Charlie. "Please remember that this isn't about revenge. Don't make it personal."

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Claire yelled. She entered the clearing with Sun and Shannon on her heels and wiped away at the residue of tears on her face before she planted both feet onto the ground, cocked her hip and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Uh, Claire," Dean began. "I'm not sure it's…"

"It's not a good idea, Claire," Sayid finished as he effectively shot her down.

"This is my baby, okay?!" Claire yelled at him as her face crumpled again, but she managed to hold off another onslaught of tears. "I let her take him!"

"Hey, hey..." Charlie soothingly spoke as he stepped toward her in a comforting embrace. Claire's features twisted up in fury as she ducked away from him and slapped his hands away from her while she shook her head against his kindness. "Don't tell me what to do, okay!"

"Claire, calm down," Dean told her. "Nobody here thinks that you'd actually sit by and allow Rousseau to just take your baby."

"But she did. What kind of mother allows a stranger to take her baby?" Claire argued as she again stepped away from Charlie's attempt to embrace her. "I am going to come with you! This is my fault and I'm coming and you can't stop me!" Claire's face crumpled as she choked out an agonizing sob and hung her head pityingly. Charlie tentatively stepped forward again and tenderly wrapped his arms around her as she gave up her fight and collapsed against him in anguish. "It's alright, Claire."

Claire glanced down at her watery eyes as she swallowed back her emotions and clutched his arm desperately. "Get him back, Charlie. Get Aaron back."

Charlie pulled back and glanced down at Claire with a wry smile. "Aaron?"

Claire nodded her head. "Please, get him back."

Charlie shared a confident smile with Dean and Sayid as he nodded his head down at Claire. "I will get him back. I promise."

"And when we do," Dean broke in. "It might be worth it to consider how great Dean sounds as a middle name for Aaron."

* * *

_How in the hell have I managed to let a month and a half get me so out of shape?_ Dean thought around a grunt as he struggled to pull all of his body weight up past a rock face. This should have been simple child's play. His father had integrated enough rock climbing exercises into the mandatory training for him and Sam when they were children that he considered himself an old pro. But now? He had, embarrassingly, barely managed to keep up with Sayid.

He collapsed against the rock underneath him and allowed himself a small break that consisted of three sessions of inhaling and exhaling on his side before he pushed himself up onto his knees and then stood up with a grimace. He would have liked nothing more than to be able to blame his lack of endurance on his recent shoulder injury, but he knew that would just be a blatant lie. He'd gotten complacent during his time since the plane crash. He hadn't actively searched out his brother past the incident with arrow and he hadn't willingly joined any of the hikes off the beach past the incident with Ethan. What had happened to him?

He spotted Sayid ahead of him just as he jumped across a massive crevice in the rocks and landed gracefully. He spun back around and motioned for Dean to follow him as Dean stepped over to the edge to judge the span he would have to jump. He let out a resigned sigh, backed up and took a running start as he tried to mirror Sayid's movement exactly, but as he landed his footing didn't connect the same way with the rock and he stumbled slightly. Sayid reached forward and grabbed his arm in an attempt to correct his posture and despite his annoyance with himself, Dean couldn't help but shoot his companion a look of gratitude. "Are you ok?" Sayid asked seriously.

For Dean it was salt in an already festering wound and he shook off Sayid's arm as he nodded his head before he attempted to discreetly even out his labored breathing. He had clearly gotten VERY out of shape. "Where is Charlie?"

Dean shrugged as he glanced behind him and was met with empty air before Charlie staggered up to the crevice. He grinned over at the two men ahead of him before his attention turned to the distance between them and he let out an audible groan. "Are you kidding me with this?" Charlie shouted across to them.

Dean shrugged again as Sayid motioned for him to jump across and join them. He let out another groan before he backed up and jumped the entire distance before he landed squarely on his feet with a little flourish at the end. _Geez, even Charlie did better than I did, _he bitterly thought.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Charlie assured them. "Let's keep going."

Sayid cast a furtive eye on Dean and Charlie both in order to ensure that they were actually fine to continue before he nodded his head and turned to face their path. He stepped forward and started out with a jog for a moment as they each settled into a rhythm before he consistently picked up speed for Dean to match. At least this was something he was good at…had always been good at. He could admit, begrudgingly, that Sam was the smarter of the two of them, but when it came down to speed, he could book it. "At least this feels like smoother sailing, right Charlie?"

Dean paused when he didn't get a response and glanced behind him to realize that they had already lost Charlie. They had to have been going faster than he realized. "We're losing the light. Try to keep up."

"Yeah yeah…I'm coming," Charlie announced as he got closer to them with each minute. Dean nodded his head with a smile and turned to continue to run after Sayid as they entered an area comprised mostly of thick brush. Dean could just barely make out Sayid's head as it bobbed over the brush in front of him and picked up his speed, further, so he could get closer.

"I can see the smoke…just beyond that rise," Sayid stopped and pointed it out as Dean glanced up and smiled at how close they were to their destination. "With any luck we should be able to get there within the next half hour."

"Maybe you and I can, but Gimli's having a bit more trouble keeping up," Dean told him honestly as they both stopped completely. Sayid glanced back up their path and cursed lowly as he realized that Charlie had been separated from them. "We need to find him before…"

"Dean! Sayid!" They both vaguely heard. Dean gave Sayid an incredulous grin around a snort and welcomed him to direct Charlie to them.

"Charlie? We're over here," Sayid yelled back.

They both waited for a few moments as the natural sounds around them filled the void before Charlie spoke again. "Over here does me no bloody good in an overgrown field, mate."

"It'll be easier if we just go find him," Dean groaned as he hitched up his backpack and turned back around in the direction they had come. He knew that even with his substantial height, it would still be difficult to spot someone as short as Charlie as he waded through all this brush. "Marco!" Dean yelled out.

"Marco?" Sayid asked as he stopped and gave Dean a confused look.

"Yeah, Marco," Dean confirmed as he stood on his tiptoes and glanced around the field for any sign of Charlie. "It's this swimming game where…"

"POLO!" Charlie yelled back, his voice closer than it had been the last time.

"…where you yell Polo when you hear someone else yell Marco so you can find them with your eyes closed," Dean laughed as he slapped Sayid's chest triumphantly. "Marco!"

"Polo!" Charlie shouted again, his voice almost immediately to the left of them. He grinned wide as he stepped out of the brush and patted Dean on the back. "Marco/Polo. Brilliant."

"I do try," Dean admitted with a smirk. "Well, lead on, Sayid," Dean instructed with a wave of his hand.

"No, we're going to stop and rest for a moment," Sayid announced. Dean squinted his eyes in confusion before he heard the labored breathing from Charlie and knew what Sayid was doing. They had already lost him once, what would happen if they couldn't find him again?

"What? Why?" Dean could hear the incredulity in Charlie's voice and gave Sayid a sidelong glance before he stepped around him and decided to take the lead to get them all out of the brush field.

"You can barely breathe, that's why," Sayid told him from behind Dean.

"She's still out there right now..." Charlie argued.

"And, in another mile you're going to collapse. You're having difficulty keeping up. We're going to take a break," Sayid told him with finality. Dean let out a deep chuckle as he continued forward and couldn't but pat himself on the back that he'd stepped out of their bickering when he had. He stopped suddenly as he exited the brush and allowed shock to course through his body at the sight before him.

Sayid barely caught himself before he crashed into Dean's back at his abrupt stop and let out a low curse. "Dean, what's…"

_This is where it had happened, just like Boone had said. That plane had fallen on him_,Dean thought as he stared at the upside down plane. He shook his head incredulously as Sayid came around him and threw him a concerned look. "Um…I know you told me that it was here, but it's still strange to actually see it," Dean whispered.

"Is this where Boone fell?" Charlie asked from behind them.

Sayid pulled out a bottle of water and tossed it to Charlie as he indicated the cliff above them. "The plane was up there. Locke told me that Boone was inside of it when it fell."

Charlie followed Sayid's indication to the cliff and visibly blanched at the thought of somebody trapped inside of that plane when it fell from such a great height. "Any idea where it came from?"

"Based on the maps inside…Nigeria," Sayid told them.

Dean nodded gravely as he took the offered bottle of water from Charlie and held it in his hands for a few moments. "Do you know if there was anybody on board when it crashed?"

"Two men…both dressed as priests," Sayid told him as Charlie crossed himself quickly.

"Why do you say it like that? Like they weren't priests, that they were only dressed as priests?" Charlie asked.

"Because they weren't priests, they were drug runners" Sayid informed him. He knelt down and picked up a small statue of the Virgin Mary and threw it so that it fell at Charlie's feet and broke open to reveal small bags filled with an off-white powder. "The plane was loaded with heroin." The smile instantly faded from Charlie's face as he visibly gulped and stared down at the drugs in wonder. Sayid didn't even notice Charlie's change in demeanor as he picked up his backpack and instructed the both of them that they should continue towards the smoke before he turned and walked up the path he had indicated.

Dean, however, not only noticed the look on his face but couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to put the pieces together. Before he had even left on his foolish attempt to find Sam, there had been several times that Dean had noticed something off about Charlie, usually as he walked around and spoke in a perpetual daze. While he been out of commission for his shoulder to heal, he had also noticed the change in tide as Charlie had been more irritable with anyone that crossed his path. That had only occurred for a few weeks until he had managed to calm down and act more rationally. No wonder. "Detox," he muttered.

"What was that?" Charlie asked as he kept his gaze on the broken statue at his feet.

"Nothing, man," Dean told him as he shook his head innocently. Charlie nodded distractedly, but Dean could practically see his eyes dance in bewilderment. Dean heaved out a defeated sigh before he stepped forward and knelt at the broken statue. He picked up each small bag of heroin and counted them off loudly for Charlie to hear.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he, predictably, asked.

Dean glanced back up at Charlie and gave him what he hoped was a nonchalant smile as he placed each of the counted bags in his backpack. In his life, he had born witness to enough hunters that got so out of whack with the things they saw and experienced on the job that they turned to some form of substance to deal with their lives. His father's drug of choice had been liquor, but he knew that sometimes, with other hunters, hardcore narcotics were thrown into the mix. He also knew that it usually paved the way for fatal mistakes on the job.

"Maybe it's being here in this spot, but I can't stop thinking about how much pain Boone was in when he died," Dean explained as he stood back up. "I hope nothing like that ever happens again in our group, but if it does maybe Jack can make use of this worthless crap. Towards the end, I would have gladly put this garbage into Boone's system, just to make him comfortable." _Plus, if I take them, then you can't,_ Dean thought as Charlie nodded over at him in guilty understanding.

"Yeah…no. That's actually a great idea," Charlie absentmindedly commented.

"Thanks, man," Dean told him sincerely. "Well, maybe we should catch up with Sayid before he gets this kid found all on his own and you don't get to impress Claire." Charlie grinned wide at him before Dean turned and followed after Sayid away from the overturned plane. He made a mental note to watch Charlie for any strange behavior, despite the fact that he was confident about Charlie's recovery. "Hey, would it kill you to wait up for us?" Sayid glanced at him over his shoulder and nodded his head before he turned back and stared out in front of him. "Hey, what's going on?"

There on the ground, foreign against the natural colors of the forest, was a baby's blanket, delicately placed so that it would be seen by anybody that wandered by. "Well, I'll be damned…"

"I think we're close," Sayid told him with a smile as he gazed around at the area surrounding them. "Still, I'm not sure if she dropped it here on accident or if she intended for this blanket to be found…"

"So that she could rig it to a trap," Dean finished as he rolled his shoulder. "The last time we set off one of her traps, it was rigged to dynamite."

"Which is why I have yet to pick it up," Sayid told him simply.

"Hey, why'd you guys stop so…" Charlie began from behind them. He stopped when he realized that he was being ignored before he stepped around the two of them and glanced down at what had captured their attention. Charlie's eyes widened around a triumphant smile as he stepped around Sayid and Dean and jogged over to the item.

"No, Charlie…don't…" Charlie ignored Dean's warning as he bent down and gently picked up the bundle from the ground. The smile slipped from his features as he removed the blanket to reveal a large piece of a tree before he heard a loud click from above him.

"Charlie…don't!" Dean yelled as a torrent of large rocks hailed down on Charlie. The clearing became eerily quiet after all the rocks had settled until Dean coughed deeply as he inhaled the dust from the rocks that lingered around them. Sayid closed his mouth against the unclean air as he ran forward, his eyes wide in panic. "Charlie!" he yelled out as the pile of rocks caused a sense of foreboding to fall across the clearing.

"Ugh, somebody get the number for that truck," Charlie moaned from his prone position on the ground. Sayid visibly relaxed as he knelt down next to Charlie while Dean glanced up at the empty netting suspended between the two trees and couldn't help but be impressed at how quickly and accurately Rousseau had managed to set up a trap that catered exactly to what they were searching for. She really didn't want them to find her.

"Dean, I need your help," Sayid yelled over at him. Dean broke out of his reverie and ran over to the two of them as Charlie moaned deeply and slowly sat up.

"His eye," Sayid observed.

Dean leaned over Charlie and followed the blood flow on his face to its source before he shook his head in relief at Sayid. "His eye's fine," Dean assured him as he reached into his bag and produced a small towel. He blotted the blood on Charlie's face as softly as he could manage until he got to the laceration and was able to see just how deep it was. "It's on his forehead."

"I'm bleeding?" Charlie asked as he finally felt the wetness on his skin.

"We need to put pressure on it," Sayid suggested as he took the towel from Dean and pressed it against Charlie injury.

"Ok…ow!" Charlie hissed and jerked his head away from the towel with a glare. Dean leaned forward and inspected the cut closely as new blood quickly pooled around its corners before it filled up enough to trickle back down his face. He let out a tired sigh and shot Sayid with a grim look as he shook his head and nudged his arm to lead him a few steps away from Charlie. "Pressure isn't gonna help him," he whispered. "His cut's too deep and probably won't be able to clot on its own."

Sayid glanced back over at Charlie and could see the blood that had continued to fall from the wound and ran his hand through his hair in agitation. "Oy, what's going on?" Charlie yelled as he picked up the discarded towel and gingerly placed it on his forehead with a wince.

"Charlie, can you remember how to get back to camp on your own?" Dean asked as he walked back over to Charlie and knelt down next to him.

"I'm not going back," Charlie told them as he placed the towel back on his head.

"Charlie, you're bleeding too much. You won't be able to continue on this hike, anyways, if you succumb to blood loss," Sayid informed him.

"Jack isn't even at camp right now," Charlie reminded the both of them. "The only other person that could fix me up is Dean, so just…fix it."

"Dude, what do you expect me to do right now? I didn't exactly bring a medical kit on this impromptu manhunt," Dean told him as he held his arms out at his sides.

"What about you?" Charlie asked Sayid.

"I'm not a doctor," Sayid denied him.

"No, you're a soldier," Charlie argued as he sat up further. "What do people do when you get wounded, because I refuse to go back to camp without that baby, Sayid."

Sayid glanced over at Dean for a moment and was ready to admit that he didn't have a way to help Charlie before his eyes widened around a grin. "Don't move," he instructed Charlie as he stood up completely and pulled his gun out of the waist of his pants.

Dean's eyes widened as he stood up and pulled Sayid away from Charlie as quickly as he could. "Dude, I don't think going Old Yeller on him is a valid solution to this problem."

A look of confusion crossed over Sayid's face before he glanced down at the gun in his hand and rolled his eyes. "I am not going to shoot him," he spat as he pulled out the gun clip and removed a single bullet. Dean watched as he pulled apart the two pieces that comprised the bullet and stared down at the front casing filled with gunpowder before he moved closer to Charlie.

"Gunpowder?" Dean questioned.

"Remove the towel and tilt your bead back," Sayid sharply instructed as Charlie shot Dean a worried look. "Remove the towel."

Charlie jumped at his tone, but did as he was told as Sayid knelt in front of him and began to pour the gunpowder into the open wound. Dean's eyes widened as he realized that Sayid was attempting to crudely cauterize the wound with gunpowder. "Ok, maybe I'd feel differently if I was in Charlie's shoes, but I get the feeling this is about to be the coolest thing that I've ever seen in my life."

"This is because I hit you, isn't it?" Charlie asked as he looked up at Sayid with uneasiness in his eyes.

Dean lowly chuckled as Sayid barely acknowledged the question before he removed a single match from the box in his pack and nodded down at Charlie. "This is not going to be pleasant," he warned him as Charlie let out a terrified moan. "Are you ready?"

Dean knelt down and offered his hand for Charlie to squeeze which Charlie shook off before he closed his eyes tightly. Sayid sucked in a deep breath and blew it out before he lit the match and moved closer to Charlie. "1…2" he applied the flame to the gunpowder so quickly that Dean was surprised that the match hadn't gone out as the gunpowder on Charlie's head ignited in time with his agony-laced scream.

Dean reached out and helped Sayid hold him down as Charlie continued to scream until the rest of the gunpowder had ignited. After several moments, it finally died down to reveal a small burnt section of Charlie's forehead with no blood at all leaking from it. Charlie breathed in deeply in an effort to quell his hammering heart as Dean inspected the wound and let out a triumphant laugh. "I was right…coolest thing I've ever seen.

"Well…I'm so glad that…my misery can enter…tain you," Charlie managed between sharp breaths before he moved to stand back up. His finger grazed the wound gently and he immediately noticed that he could still feel the heat as it radiated from his skin. "This is probably gonna leave a scar."

"Yeah, and normally I'd tell you to make up some cool story to go with it, but I don't think there's anything cooler than cauterize by gunpowder," Dean exclaimed. "Sayid, you are a badass."

"While that sentiment is all the reason why I did what I did, do you think that you're ok to continue?" Sayid asked Charlie with a grin. "We still have a lot of ground to cover and we've almost lost the light."

"Yeah, I'm good," Charlie grimaced. "Headache worse than a hangover, but I can definitely walk."

Dean glanced up at the setting sun and nodded his head before he patted Charlie on the back. "Well then, let's get a move on."

* * *

Dean smelled the smoke before he heard the waves as they crashed onto land and could only assume that they had reached another part of beach on the island. "We could have just walked around from our beach and avoided the jungle altogether," Dean muttered.

"I fear that would have taken much longer than we've already taken," Sayid told him as he stopped and pulled out his gun. He watched as Dean and Charlie both did the same before he motioned with his head for them to follow behind him.

"Wait, what's the plan?" Charlie asked.

"We get Aaron back for Claire," Dean deadpanned.

"That's it?" Charlie asked. "What if the Others are waiting for us on that beach?"

"We shoot the Others and then get Aaron back for Claire," Dean deadpanned again.

He nodded forward as they all entered the beach to find it not only empty, but deserted. In the distance, they could all see that the black smoke was coming from a crudely made fire on the beach. They approached it and Dean could see that a thick piece of rubber had been placed at the top so that the smoke would burn black. "Well, I was definitely expecting a bit more."

"What the hell is that?" Charlie asked as he held his nose against the smell coming from the fire.

"There are not footprints, no tracks," Sayid observed the sand around the fire.

"Which pretty much confirms what we already knew," Dean told them as he kept his gun ready in case anything or anyone decided to surprise them. "Rousseau was pulling our leg."

"This can't be it," Charlie argued frantically. "Where are they?"

"Not here," Dean confirmed as he extended his senses for noise or person that clashed with the nature around them. "Like I said before…pulling our leg."

Dean lowered his gun as he stepped away from the fire before a soft noise stopped him. "Do you guys hear that?" They all stilled and listened deeply as the low sound of a crying baby illuminated slightly over the crashing waves. Charlie smiled excitedly as he spun around towards the treeline. "She's here."

"Danielle!"

They all waited with a collectively held breath as the baby's crying continued with no other sounds to accompany it. "She wouldn't just leave him out here alone, would she?" Dean asked.

"I truly don't believe she would," Sayid answered him. "Danielle!"

"You come out, right now!" Charlie yelled venomously.

"Hey, police sirens, calm down," Dean told him as Sayid yelled her name once again. He shot Charlie a warning look before he stilled again in order to figure out which direction they were supposed to go. A woman's agonized sobs joined Aarons cries and Dean let out a relieved breath that, at the very least, Claire's son wasn't alone.

"Danielle! I can hear you, come out," Sayid pleaded. "Please, he needs his mother."

Danielle stood up and emerged from behind a large cluster of bushes with the baby held protectively in her arms. She pulled her eyes away from Aaron as she glanced up and down the beach in disappointment. "They were not here."

"Danielle, you have to give us the baby," Sayid instructed her in a reassuring tone.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his as she clutched Aaron tightly against her chest. A new wave of tears glistened in her eyes before they fell in streaks down her already puffy face. "I just wanted my Alex back. I thought if I gave them the baby..."

"It's okay. I know," Sayid told her soothingly as he stepped closer to her. "It's okay." She deflated completely as Sayid took the baby from her arms and deposited him into Charlie's waiting embrace.

"I've got him," Charlie announced before he bounced the baby up and down and cooed at him in an effort to halt his crying. As Aaron finally began to calm down he turned hateful eyes on Danielle. "There never were any Others. You started the fires yourself!"

"No, I heard them whispering," she denied.

Dean stood up straight at her statement and shared a knowing look with Sayid. He had been delirious on his infamous walk back to the beach camp, but he'd spent a good portion of his life under the influence of blood loss. The only time he'd ever heard whispering due to it was in that jungle. "You heard whispering?"

"Don't listen to her, she's a nutjob," Charlie yelled. "You heard nothing!"

"I heard them say that they were coming for the child," Danielle argued. "The Others said they were coming for the boy…"

"You're a liar," Charlie sneered as Dean's face digested her words before he stepped forward and knelt down in front of her. She stared down at him and he could read the anguish clearly on her face before he took her hand tenderly and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Danielle, I need you to think very carefully before you answer this. You said that you heard them say that they were coming for the boy? That's what they said exactly?" he asked.

"Yes, I didn't want them to do to his mother what they did to me all those years ago," Danielle explained as passionately as she could.

"But they said boy, not baby?" Dean asked determinedly.

"What does it matter, she's off her rocker," Charlie exclaimed as he clutched Claire's son closer to him before he sneered down at her. "You're pathetic."

"Charlie!" Dean yelled as he stood up and spun around to shoot him a withering look. "You. Are. Not. Helping!"

Charlie snapped his mouth shut as a hurt expression crossed his features. He turned his attention back to Aaron and spun away from them as Dean faced Danielle again, her features crumpled in guilt.

"What are you thinking?" Sayid asked Dean.

Dean turned to Sayid and glanced back at Charlie and the baby before he let out a frustrated sigh. "Claire's baby was born recently. Until then, we had one other young boy in our group from the plane crash," he explained grimly.

Dawning registered across Sayid's face as he stared down at Danielle in amazement. "Walt."

Dean nodded his head softly as he knelt back down in front of Danielle and gave her a gentle smile. "Your intentions were noble, but I think you just tried to save the wrong kid."

**Author's Note: Ok, my fabulous readers, this is the last chapter of story one not including a small epilogue that should be up in a matter of days. I'm not yanking your chain on this one…matter of days! This is a tad bit longer than my normal chapters, but I hope everyone enjoys it just the same. I really enjoyed writing this and am ready to get "Swan Song Station" started and posted for your viewing pleasure. In the meantime, big thanks to hockeygirlxox, The Sun Will Shine Clear, TrappedInWonderland, The Archivist316, Endgame65, redladybug12, elmoisemo6, MadalynValentine and Arlena4815162342 for taking the time to review after this last update. Enjoy!**


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or LOST**

"_The exhausting search for Oceanic Flight 815 has ended, today, in tragedy with the discovery of the underwater wreckage in the Sunda Trench near Bali. This has been the main priority of government and Oceanic funded search groups since the aircraft's strange disappearance almost a month and a half ago. It is being reported that there were no survivors discovered. Oceanic has scheduled a candle ceremony on Friday to mourn the loss of their loyal passengers and esteemed family of employees._

…_and in National News, experts in Toledo, Ohio are not yet ready to rule out spontaneous human combustion as the reason behind a recent string of identical deaths that continue to occur. So far, there have been three bodies discovered in which the victim's eyes were completely melted. _

_In Arkeny, Iowa, police are still on the lookout for a killer at large. With the gruesome deaths of Richard Harper, Taylor Shultz and Reverend Timothy Sorenson, police have officially categorized this as a serial killer and are warning residents to remain cautious during nighttime hours and to remember to lock their doors and windows._

_Finally, in St. Louis, Missouri a protest group led by Rebecca Warren has been arrested for unlawful behavior as they barricaded an entire street late this afternoon. The protest was held for Rebecca Warren's brother, Zachary Warren, whom she claims was unlawfully arrested for the murder of his girlfriend. Rebecca claims that she was with her brother during the attack on Emily Watford and that his civil rights have been violated…"_

John Winchester tuned out the background noise from the television as it flickered in and out in his motel room. He stretched his senses out as far as they would go and waited. He had felt it, consistently, for the last month. Someone or something had been tailing him to every location he went.

He'd been able to shake the feeling a few times, but then he'd barely get through a complacent hour before he felt the hair on his arms stand up on edge and the pit of his stomach would ignite before he quickly packed up and moved on. One entire month spent trying to stay one step ahead of something that he could only identify, so far, as a feeling was driving him crazy.

Not anymore, though.

He could barely contain the tiny smirk that graced his features in the darkness as that same and familiar feeling lit up his body in awareness. It was here. He laid himself out on the dingy motel bed, schooled his features and closed his eyes languidly. He felt his heartbeat speed up slightly as he evened out his breathing and even allowed a few snores to escape his mouth.

Sulfur. He could now, officially, categorize the "feeling" as demonic.

John was positive that when he looked back on this moment, he'd wonder how the pounding of his heart hadn't overpowered his even breathing. He picked up the sounds of somebody else in his room to accompany the unnatural smell of possession and waited as patiently as he could.

_Just a few more steps…come on._

"This is gonna be easier than killing a baby and then taking their candy," he heard a woman murmur on his left hand side, her voice filled with sick glee.

"The only difference is that a baby wouldn't have had the foresight to draw a devil's trap at the three points surrounding the bed they were pretending to sleep on," he spoke up over the television.

He opened his eyes and flashed the thing next to his bed a smugly dazzling smile as he sat up slowly and pointed the remote control at the television to mute it. Her eyes flashed black and widened in the light from the pictures being broadcast from the television before her shocked gaze shot to the ceiling. His smile turned to a chuckle as a low growl emanated from her throat. "This won't hold me."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself on that," he responded as he turned his back on her and rummaged around in the old nightstand next to his bed. He intentionally took longer than necessary to pull out the brand new journal he'd purchased and a gun, just to screw with the monster. He knew the demon was probably seething at the sight of a hunter's back turned on it, especially since it was trapped with no way to get to him. So, he felt like rubbing salt in the wound a little bit, this thing hadn't let him get a good night's sleep for a whole month.

He opened his journal to the exorcism ritual that he had finally been able to coerce Bobby into reading over the telephone and set it down on the bed before he graced the woman with an unimpressed look. "Well?"

"I'll kill you when I get out of this…"

"You mean…IF you get out of this," he corrected her with a chuckle. "And that'll be after you claw your way back out of hell."

The demon's eyes widened in fear for a brief moment before she visibly relaxed and took a casual seat on the stained motel carpet. "Actually, I don't think you'll be sending anybody to hell, Johnny Boy."

"Well then, you've either never heard of me or clearly don't believe what you have heard," John told her with an incredulous shake of his head. "Before we get down to the fun stuff, I wanna know why you've been following me around. Just know that if you decide not to talk, I can make your last few moments on earth very agonizing."

"That's what you wanna know, huh?" The demon asked around a laugh as she inspected her host's fingernails. "Well, you know what I wanna know? Just how long has it been since you've spoken to Junior? He does usually leave you a voicemail or text message to check in, right?"

John's composure slipped as he glanced over at his cell phone and realized that there hadn't been any recent message notifications popup in almost two months. How was it even possible that he hadn't noticed that Dean hadn't contacted him in so long, but a demon was pointing it out to him?

"Seems like it's not just my family that doesn't stay in contact," she told him as she continued her fingernail inspection of the woman she was wearing. "It definitely seems like you and I might need each other."

"How in the hell do you figure that I'd ever need or want your help?" John growled as he crossed the room and picked up his cell phone. He scrolled through his contacts until it landed on Dean's name and pressed the green call button.

He cursed under his breath as his phone bypassed ringing and went straight to voicemail. "This is Dean Winchester. If this is an emergency, leave a message. If you are calling about 11-2-83, page me with your coordinates."

John snapped his phone shut and looked back over at the demon as a smug smile lit up on its stolen face. "Where is he?"

"You think we have him?" She asked in amazement as she rolled her black eyes. "Why would I be following you around if I had Junior? All I'd have to do is dangle him on a sting and you'd have come straight to me."

"You wouldn't have brough him up unless you knew something, so I'll ask you again. Where is he?" John hissed as he pulled out a silver flask and held it up for the demon to see. Her eyes widened as she allowed the smile to slide from her lips and stood back up.

"He's probably in the same place as my father," she hissed at him as he unscrewed the flask with a shake of his head. "Why the hell do you think I've been following you around, Johnny Boy? I had several opportunities to take you out, that I could have acted on, but I didn't. I didn't because I need your help."

John screwed up his face with a chuckle as he flicked the flask in her direction and watched in satisfaction as several drops sizzled on her skin. She bit her bottom lip and kept her eyes locked on his as she managed to get through the holy water without screaming once. "If you think it impresses me that you stood tall against a few drops, think again."

"I don't give a rat's ass what you think about me," she hissed back at him with a grimace. "What I do know, however, is that if you don't accept my help, you'll never see your dear boys again."

"The only way that you could possibly make a threat like that is if you know exactly what happened to them," John hissed as he splashed another round of holy water on her. Her skin sizzled as she closed her eyes against the agony and breathed in and out of her nose deeply.

"Look, the last time that I heard from my father, he was on a plane. The very plane where he had a close and watchful yellow eye trained on your dear sons," she told John with a smile. John gasped at her statement as the flask fell from his slack grip onto the dingy carpet in shock as the demon let out a deep laugh. "Oh, that's right… you have a special vendetta against dear old daddy, don't you? Well, there's no reason for you to worry, I'm sure wherever he and the next generation of Winchesters are they're keeping each other company."

John gritted his teeth as he reached down and picked the flask back up before he emptied the rest of its contents onto the demon and grinned wide as she screamed out in pain. He wound up and threw the emptied container against a wall before he stomped out of his motel room and slammed the door behind him.

What the hell was he thinking? Sure he hadn't heard from his sons in a while, but just because a demon pointed it out didn't mean that anything was wrong. She was just exploiting his feelings so he would release her and give her the opportunity to kill him. She was a demon…demons lied.

"I didn't think it was possible, but you look just as bad as you did the last time that I saw you," a voice shouted from behind him. John's shoulders stiffened as he slowly turned around and cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at the man in front of him. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and scoffed as he stepped towards him.

"Yeah, well, the last time you saw me, you almost filled me full of buckshot," John reminded him in a barely controlled tone. "What are you doing here, Bobby?"

Bobby pushed off of the wall he had leaned on next to John's motel room door and shrugged around a sigh. "It sounded like you might be in some deep shit when you called me for that exorcism ritual," he explained. "By the way, if you didn't want to be found, you should have called me from an unknown number so that I wouldn't have been able to track the area code and then turn on the tracker that I managed to put under the truck before you bought it from me."

"You put a damn tracker under my truck?" John growled incredulously.

"Yeah, and you didn't find it," Bobby threw back with a laugh. "Some damn hunter you turn out to be."

"Did you come all the way out here just to bust my balls or are you actually interested in helping me work over the demon that I've got trapped in my room," John asked him. He watched as Bobby's eyes widened significantly as his arms dropped to his sides.

"You've got a damn demon trapped in your room?"

"Oh yeah I do," John confirmed. "It just so happens to be the exact same demon that's been following me around for a month."

"A demon's been following you?" Bobby asked incredulously. At John's slow nod he let out a chuckle of disbelief. "Why's she been following you? Why not just kill you and get it over with?"

"That's what I asked," John told him with a grin. "She claims that she needs my help to find her father."

"Her father?" Bobby asked. "Demon's have family members?"

"Apparently," John admitted. "Not only that, but she tells me that her father is the yellow eyed son of a bitch himself."

Bobby's jaw dropped in shock before he recovered and shot his longtime friend with a confused look. "Why would you help that monster find the very evil you've been hunting for Sam's entire life?"

"Because, in return, she's told me that she's willing to help me find Sam and Dean."

Bobby sucked in an anxious breath as he held up his hand to stop John from speaking again as fear coursed through his body. "Are Sam and Dean missing?"

**Author's Note: That's all folks. Well, that's all until the first chapter of "Swan Song Station" gets posted. Once again, thanks to all the people that followed this story and reviewed as it was updated…y'all rock the casbah!  
**


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